Ballon d'Or organisers issue statement after error goes viral hours before ceremony

A statement has been issued to the Ballon d'Or website after articles commemorating five different winners of the 2026 men's and women's awards were accidentally published to their website.

An article for each of the three favourites to win the men's award - Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe - appeared on the official Ballon d'Or website at around 5:30pm UK time. They remained online for several minutes before being deleted, after organisers were made aware of the error. Articles for Alexia Putellas, the favourite to win the women's award, and Ewa Pajor were also published before being taken down.

Now, a statement has appeared on the Ballon d'Or website.

Ballon d'Or apologise over Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe error

The statement, posted shortly before the beginning of the ceremony, confirms that - if you hadn't guessed it already - the uploads were indeed done in error and do not reflect the results, or the podium, in any way.

It reads: "Portraits of some Ballon d'Or nominees prepared by ballondor.com were inadvertently published online.

"These articles had been prepared in advance for all nominees in the event of a win. They do not, in any way, reveal the podium, which remains unknown to everyone at this time."

Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe all had winning articles accidentally posted by Ballon d'Or organisers (Images: Getty)

It is not the first time that information related to nominees has been erroneously posted on the Ballon d'Or website. On the date of the nominations, profiles for several women's players - who had not yet been announced - were uploaded to the website before being quickly removed.

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Who is the favourite to win the men's and women's Ballon d'Or?

Harry Kane is currently the bookmakers' favourite to win the men's Ballon d'Or before the ceremony gets underway at 8pm UK time. Mbappe and Yamal are also among the contenders - which is why some speculated that the publishing of the profiles online might have confirmed the top three.

The likelihood is, though, that the three players already mentioned will make up the podium. A number of players, including the Real Madrid duo of Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior, and Barcelona's Pau Cubarsi, haven't made the trip to London.

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When it comes to the women's award, London City Lionesses midfielder Alexia Putellas is the heavy favourite to win the award after a superb season with Barcelona, in which she won Spain's top division and the Women's Champions League. Her now former team-mates Patri Guijarro and Ewa Pajor are among the other leading contenders.

The ceremony begins at around 8pm GMT but the winners of the two main awards will be announced much later on. The women's award presentation will take place first, with the men's presentation expected for between 9:45pm and 10pm.