Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal have all been named as the 2026 Ballon d'Or winner in three separate articles accidentally published on the ceremony's official website

The Ballon d'Or has descended into chaos after three different articles were published online naming Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal all as winners of the award.

Three separate articles were accidentally published on the ceremony's official website before Monday night's 70th annual awards evening had even kicked off at the London Palladium, reports the Express.

All three pieces were swiftly taken down, with the England skipper's article - which read "a record-breaking welter of league and cup goals in 2025/26 has propelled Harry Kane to Ballon d'Or success" beneath the headline "Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or" - being the first to be pulled on Monday evening.

Mbappe's followed shortly after, an article headlined "Kylian Mbappe wins 2026 Ballon d'Or for consistency personified at the very highest level" which stated "a record-breaking World Cup and another welter of goals for Los Blancos has brought Kylian Mbappe his first Ballon d'Or triumph".

The piece about Yamal, boldly declaring "Lamine Yamal wins the 2026 Ballon d'Or and sets an unprecedented record", was the last to disappear, having claimed: "In fact, at just 19 years of age, Lamine Yamal has just become the youngest winner in the history of the Ballon d'Or, which was established in 1956."

It went on: "To truly appreciate the scale of his achievement, one need only recall that not even Lionel Messi - the record holder for the most trophies - had managed to win the Ballon d'Or at that age. The Argentine star won it for the first time in 2009, when he was 22 years and 160 days old.

"The all-time record for the youngest winner, until this magical evening in London, belonged to Ronaldo Nazario, who won the Ballon d'Or at the age of 21 years and 92 days. Now, this historic record belongs to the new king of football and the brand-new winner of the most prestigious trophy on the planet. It belongs to Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana."