Yamal reveals his personal method for deciding the Ballon d'Or, surprising many.
Kane and Mbappé are taken aback! Yamal insists the Ballon d'Or should not be decided by goal count.
Lamine Yamal, the Spanish winger for Barcelona and Spain's national team, stated that the prestigious Ballon d'Or should go to the best player in the world rather than to a player who scores 80 goals.
The 19-year-old Yamal is among the frontrunners for the 2026 Ballon d'Or after winning the 2026 World Cup with Spain and La Liga with Barcelona. However, while he has trophies, his main rivals have scored far more goals than he has.
Harry Kane scored 73 goals for Bayern Munich and England in the 2025/26 season, while Kylian Mbappé netted 58 goals for Real Madrid and France. Nevertheless, Yamal does not believe goal totals should be a deciding factor in voting.
Yamal said, "This award is viewed differently now compared to when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo played; everyone knew they were the two best players in the world, so the award was shared between them."
"The problem now is people are focusing on things unrelated to the Ballon d'Or. For example, they say PSG players should win because they won the Champions League. When you win the Champions League, PSG as a team gets that trophy, and that is the award for PSG."
"It's entirely different if the best player in the world happens to be at PSG. In that case, the award should go to the best player in the world, period. Not to the player who scored 80 goals because if you score 80 goals, you receive the top scorer award of the season."
"This is a big difference that many people don't understand. The best player in the world is the one who makes you enjoy watching the game. You see him, and he stands out above the others."