Lamine Yamal has offered his view on the Ballon d’Or debate after Kylian Mbappé recently discussed his own credentials for the award. In an interview with Movistar+, the Barcelona forward explained that individual performance should carry the most weight when voters choose the world’s best player.
Yamal believes a player should not win the Ballon d’Or simply because his team lifted the Champions League, arguing that the club receives the reward for its collective success.
The Spanish international therefore questioned the idea of rewarding a Paris Saint-Germain player solely because the club won major trophies. PSG have several nominees, including Ousmane Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi. “When you win the Champions League, the trophy goes to PSG—the team that was the best,” Yamal explained. “It’s a completely different matter if PSG happens to have the best player in the world in its ranks. In that case, I think the award should go to the best player in the world—period.”
Yamal also responded indirectly to Mbappé’s argument that his scoring record should strengthen his case. The Real Madrid forward highlighted his status as a top scorer across major competitions, but Yamal believes goals alone cannot determine the winner. “The best player in the world is the one who—when you’re watching the match as a commentator—gives you a great time; the one who stands out clearly from the rest,” he said. His comments add another dimension to a Ballon d’Or race in which several of Europe’s leading players have presented their own claims.
