The Harry Kane Ballon d’Or (Ballon d’Or to everyone else) debate got an unexpected twist when the official website of the award for a few hours published an article stating that Kane is the 2026 winner of the ballon d’or, which led to confusion hours before the ceremony in London.
The “Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or” article went live online soon after 17:15 GMT on Monday. The award ceremony, however, was not to declare the winner at London’s Palladium Theatre for another four and a half hours which led to speculation of whether the result had been leaked.
The ‘rumour’ was an apparent statement that caught the eye of football fans, many of whom were wondering whether the organisers had made a ‘misreveal’ of one of the sport’s most prestigious individual awards.
Further investigation showed that articles had been drawn up for other top contenders such as Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe. Related profiles were reportedly published for women’s award favourites Alexia Putellas and Ewa Pajor as well.
Ballon d’Or spokesman told BBC Sport that profiles of nominees had been inadvertently published. The spokesperson emphasized that the articles were meant for all nominees, and should not be viewed as a confirmation of the final results or rankings.
The stories about Kane and Mbappe were then taken down from the official site just before 17.40 BST.
The incident did not determine who will receive the award, and supporters can only await the official announcement. Kane is one of just two players to have won the Ballon d’or as an Englishman since the introduction of the award in 2000 to mark the start of the new season, when Michael Owen picked up the title.
The episode raised awareness of the issue of maintaining the award results’ confidentiality in the digital era, especially in cases where content is created ahead of time and becomes public before it should be.
