Ballon d'Or 2026: 'Shambles' - Gary Lineker slams organisers as Kane triumphs over Mbappé

Former Barcelona striker, Gary Lineker, has hit out at the organisers of the Ballon d’Or over this year’s award ceremony, describing it as a “shambles”.

Lineker also revealed that Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé was barely acknowledged despite sitting in the front row during the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London last Monday.

Recall that Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d’Or ahead of Mbappé by 28 points.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Lineker said, “I assumed they might give them [Ballon d’Or contenders] a little whisper, because when Kylian Mbappé turned up from Real Madrid, I was thinking, ‘Ooh, he must have been told here.'”

“I mean, the show was a bit of a shambles, to be honest. So many things were going wrong, and I felt for them on stage. They seemed to be more focused on the red carpet than actually the night.”