Lamine Yamal: Ballon d'Or Race Is Me and Mbappe
Yamal tells Movistar+ he and Mbappe are the two best players in the world, saying his trophy haul this year makes him the deserving Ballon d'Or winner.
Lamine Yamal has narrowed the 2026 Ballon d'Or race down to two names, and put himself top of that list.
The Barcelona Forward made the case in an interview with Jorge Valdano for Movistar+'s Universo Valdano, due to air on 18 September, previewed by Mundo Deportivo.
Yamal's résumé from last season reads: La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona, a World Cup with Spain, and personal bests of 24 goals and 18 assists. He has scored 47 goals since joining from Barcelona's academy in August 2023. On Sunday at the Ciutat de Valencia he added two more league goals, drawing level with Raphinha, Mbappe and Camello atop the Liga scoring charts on six.
Mbappe's case rests on different numbers. He finished as top scorer in La Liga, the Champions League and the World Cup, and racked up 42 goals and seven assists for Real Madrid, though Real Madrid lost the Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain and Mbappe missed a penalty in last week's 0-1 defeat to Real Betis.
Both players made France Football's 30-man shortlist for the award, which will be presented in London on 26 October. Yamal named only Mbappe as a rival, leaving out other nominees such as Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Rodri. Kane, now at Bayern Munich, won the European Golden Boot for 2025-26 and is seen as the closest thing to a third contender.
If voters follow Yamal's own framing of a two-horse race, the decision may come down to whether they reward Mbappe's individual scoring records or Yamal's trophy haul with club and Country.
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Sources 16
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