Lamine Yamal played 45 games for Barcelona and Spain in the 2025-26 season, scoring 24 goals and providing 17 assists for a direct involvement in 41 goals. World Sport journalist Gabriel Sans wrote in a column on 28 September that those numbers, alongside two trophies and a World Cup winners’ medal, give the 19-year-old a stronger Ballon d’Or claim than any other candidate.
The ceremony takes place on 26 October in London. Yamal finished second in the previous edition of the award, behind Ousmane Dembele, who was then at Paris Saint-Germain.
The season in numbers
In La Liga, Yamal scored 16 goals, a personal league-season record, and shared the Zarra Trophy with Ferran Torres. His 11 league assists led the division. In the 26 La Liga matches he played, he directly influenced the result in 20 of them through a goal, an assist or winning a penalty.
In the Champions League he scored 6 goals and added 4 assists across 10 appearances, contributing a decisive impact in 8 of those games. According to Sans, Yamal surpassed Erling Haaland to become the youngest player in history to reach double figures in both goals and assists in a single Champions League season.
Titles and the World Cup
Barcelona won La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup in 2025-26. The club also reached the Champions League quarter-finals and the Copa del Rey semi-finals. In the Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Metropolitano, with Barcelona trailing 0-2 from the first leg, Yamal scored to make it 1-2, and UEFA praised his performance.
At the World Cup, Yamal scored his first tournament goal against Saudi Arabia and was named man of the match in the games against Austria and Belgium. Spain beat Argentina in the final. Sans notes that Yamal became the first player in history to win both the European Championship and the World Cup before the age of 20.
Navas backs Yamal and Fabian Ruiz
Former Spain international Jesus Navas, speaking at an event in Seville ahead of Spain’s match against Croatia at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, said Yamal deserves the award. He added that Fabian Ruiz, a friend from his hometown, also merits the prize. Former players Ivan Rakitic and Davor Suker, who were also at the event, said the Ballon d’Or should go to a Spanish player.
Yamal’s goal for Spain against England at Wembley, which helped Spain win 3-2 in the UEFA Nations League, falls outside the 2025-26 voting window that closes on Monday. Sans wrote that the performance carries symbolic weight regardless.
