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Barcelona and Spain forward Lamine Yamal has challenged the growing emphasis on goals and team trophies in the 2026 Ballon d’Or debate, insisting the award should recognise the best individual player in the world.
Yamal, 19, is among the leading contenders for the prize after helping Spain win the World Cup and Barcelona claim the La Liga title during the judging period.
However, his major rivals have produced significantly higher goal tallies, with Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane scoring 73 goals in the 2025/26 season, while Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappé scored 58.
Yamal argued that winning the Champions League should not automatically determine the Ballon d’Or winner because the competition’s trophy already recognises the best team.
“That award is being viewed differently now,” Yamal told Movistar Plus.
“When [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano [Ronaldo] were around, everyone knew they were the two best in the world, so the award was shared between the two players.”
He added: “The problem now is that people are focusing on things that have nothing to do with the Ballon d’Or. For example, when they say a PSG player has to win it because they’ve won the Champions League.”
“When you win the Champions League, PSG are awarded the Champions League trophy for being the best team, and that’s the prize that belongs to PSG.”
Yamal continued: “It’s a different matter altogether if the world’s best player happens to be at PSG. In that case, I believe the award should go to the world’s best player, full stop. Not to a player who’s scored 80 goals, because when you score 80 goals, you’re given the top scorer award for the season.”
“These are very different things that people aren’t understanding. The best player in the world is the one who, as a pundit, makes you watch the match and enjoy it; you see him, and he’s a player who stands out from the rest.”
Yamal has also publicly backed his own chances of winning the award, saying he “deserves” the Ballon d’Or and describing himself and Mbappé as the “two best players”.
He said his focus remains on his overall influence during matches rather than personal statistics, recalling players such as Mesut Özil who could dominate games without producing high goal numbers.
“I get home, and maybe I’m annoyed, and my mum always asks me if I’m annoyed because I didn’t score a goal, and I tell her I’d never come home annoyed just because I didn’t score a goal scoring a goal is just a statistic.”
The 2026 Ballon d’Or will be presented in London on October 26, with individual performances, collective performances and titles, as well as class and fair play, among the stated criteria for voting.
