LONDON — Call it an own goal.
Organisers of the Ballon d'Or event mistakenly published multiple "winners" of the men's award on its website Monday (Oct 26) hours before the ceremony.
One announcement read, in part, "Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d'Or" — and similar articles described Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe also winning.
It turned out the organiser France Football had prepared many announcements — to be ready for when the winner is announced — but they were accidentally posted well ahead of the gala at The London Palladium.
"Some profiles of nominees prepared by BallonDor.com were inadvertently published online," the organiser said in a statement to the BBC.
"These articles had been prepared for all nominees and should in no way be considered as an indication of the final results or rankings."
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