'Lamine Yamal's 'dardo' to Kane and Mbappé for the Ballon d'Or'
The Barcelona player proclaims himself the best in the world
Latest news at Barcelona. Lamine Yamal, a 19-year-old forward, has explained in the full interview on Universo Valdano why he believes that the Ballon d'Or should reward the best player and not just the top scorer or the player from the Champions' winning team. The complete conversation aired this September 18 on Movistar Plus.
Lamine Yamal shifts the focus of the Ballon d'Or
Yamal argues that the award has lost some of its football criteria by being too associated with collective titles and goal statistics. For the Barcelona player, winning the Champions League belongs to the club, while scoring a high number of goals relates to other individual distinctions.
The forward emphasizes the ability to create play and make a difference during matches. His argument comes after he publicly defended his candidacy: he believes that he and Kylian Mbappé are the two best players in the world and that this year he deserves the award for his accomplishments.
Lamine Yamal's candidacy is supported by the 2025/26 season with 26 goals and 21 assists, in addition to winning LaLiga, Spanish Super Cup, and the World Cup with the Spanish national team. In the 2025 voting, he finished second, behind Ousmane Dembélé.
The current context also reinforces his statistical position. In the 2026/27 season, he has 7 goals and 2 assists in six LaLiga matches, according to official competition records, and had already scored against Valencia, Levante, and Racing de Santander.
🏆🗣️ “THE BALLON D'OR SHOULD BE AWARDED TO THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD”
— Diario Olé (@DiarioOle) September 18, 2026
🇪🇸 Lamine Yamal reiterated his opinion on the award and was clear on the type of player who should win it
🎙️ Universo Valdano pic.twitter.com/PFwGYs7T4m
Lamine Yamal advocates for football beyond statistics
Yamal's discourse goes beyond the Ballon d'Or. The player explains that he does not understand individual performance solely through goals and assists because a footballer can influence a match without showing up on the scoresheet.
The example he uses is Mesut Özil, an attacking midfielder he admired during his development and whose influence, from his perspective, could not be solely measured by statistics. Yamal states that he prefers to finish a match satisfied for contributing consistently rather than scoring and barely getting involved.
This approach also explains how he interprets his own matches with Barcelona. In the current season, he has participated in 7 official games, with 8 goals and 4 assists across LaLiga and the Champions League, according to available records following the 7-2 victory over Racing.
His relationship with the Spanish national team also features in this stage of his candidacy. Yamal won the 2026 World Cup with Spain and has publicly acknowledged that he could have offered more during the tournament, a self-critique that is part of the interview with Jorge Valdano.
The next crucial date will be October 26, when London hosts the Ballon d'Or ceremony. Before that, the voting process will need to close, and Yamal will continue to compete with names like Mbappé, Harry Kane, and Rodri for an award whose resolution has already made his criteria one of the key arguments in the race.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, "Dardo" de Lamine Yamal a Kane y Mbappé por el Balón de Oro