Lamine Yamal, the 19-year-old Barcelona and Spain forward, has emerged alongside Kylian Mbappe as one of the two leading favourites for the Ballon d'Or, which will be presented at a ceremony in London on 26 October 2026. Speaking to the media, the Spaniard stressed that he has been operating at the highest level for a long time and fully deserves football's most prestigious individual award. "It's not just this year that I'm at a level allowing me to win the Ballon d'Or, but for quite a while already. Everyone knows it," he declared.
According to Yamal, who turned 19 a week before the World Cup, pundits often argue that he still has plenty of time to win the award, a line of thinking that risks becoming the main reason he goes unrewarded. His stance reminded supporters of Neymar, who, for all the acclaim he earned, never claimed the game's biggest individual prize. On 26 October in London, the football world will finally learn whether Lamine Yamal becomes the youngest Ballon d'Or winner in history.
