...
Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal were all bizarrely listed as winners of the Ballon d'Or on the organisation's website hours before the ceremony began in London.
The trio have all been viewed among the leading candidates to land football's biggest individual prize for the first time.
Prior to the event at the London Palladium, the Ballon d'Or's official website appeared to mistakenly publish three separate articles announcing them individually as the winner.
Daily Mail Sport alerted the organisers to the mistake and it triggered a series of frantic phone calls and WhatsApp messages.
Shocked organisers have since launched an investigation, with articles announcing Kane and Mbappe as winners subsequently being removed.
Kane's article featured the headline 'Harry Kane wins 2026 Ballon d’Or: Here are his best and most meaningful strikes from a 61-goal season'.
The article examined Kane's stunning year as he helped Bayern Munich win a domestic Treble, as well as reaching a century of goals for the German side in record time.
'A record-breaking welter of league and cup goals in 2025/26 has propelled Harry Kane to Ballon d’Or success. Here we identify his most iconic and greatest finishes in what has been a bountiful year,' the article stated.
Another announced Yamal as the Ballon d'Or winner, stating that the Barcelona and Spain star had set an 'unprecedented record' by becoming its youngest winner and labelling him as the 'new king of football'.
'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,' the article read.
'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 Nazário, 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.'
Kylian Mbappe was named as the winner in the third article published on the Ballon d'Or website
The third stated Mbappe as the winner, lauding him as 'consistency personified at the very highest level'.
'A record-breaking World Cup and another welter of goals for Los Blancos has brought Kylian Mbappe his first Ballon d'Or triumph,' the article read.
'Here we celebrate the French star's consistency, not just last season, but every season since first emerging as a true phenomenon.'