For a second, it appeared as if Harry Kane’s desires of profitable the Ballon d’Or had come true.
It was shortly after 17:15 GMT on Monday when an article from the award’s official web site titled “Harry Kane wins the 2026 Ballon d’Or” started to flow into on-line.
It was greater than 4 and a half hours earlier than the winner of the sport’s most prestigious particular person award was attributable to be introduced at a star-studded occasion at London’s Palladium Theatre.
The widespread sharing of the article brought about confusion on-line, with some questioning whether or not France Soccer – the organisers of the award – had fallen quick on the last hurdle of holding the winner, who was voted for by journalists on the finish of September, below wraps.
That was till additional digging on the Ballon d’Or web site revealed that among the different favourites to win the award – together with Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, Actual Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe – had additionally had related items penned and printed about them.
When requested in regards to the articles by BBC Sport, a Ballon d’Or spokesperson stated: “Some profiles of nominees ready by BallonDor.com had been inadvertently printed on-line.
“These articles had been ready for all nominees and will by no means be thought-about as a sign of the ultimate outcomes or rankings”
Simply earlier than 17:40 BST, the articles about Kane and Mbappe had been faraway from the web site.
Related articles had been additionally written about London Metropolis Lionesses star Alexia Putellas and Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor, who’re two of the favourites for the corresponding ladies’s award, additionally going down on Monday evening.
If Kane is to grasp his dream and turn out to be the primary Englishman to win the award since 2001, he must wait a bit longer to seek out out.