ONE TOUCH SUMMARY
- Lamine Yamal says he won't beg for the Ballon d'Or after winning the World Cup and LaLiga.
- Yamal scored 24 goals and 18 assists last season as Barcelona won LaLiga and the Spanish Supercopa.
- Barcelona open their Champions League campaign against Feyenoord, the only major trophy missing from Yamal's collection.
ONE TOUCH INSIGHT
Lamine Yamal is right: the Ballon d'Or is decided by journalists, not by him. He's also clear-eyed about what actually decides it. A World Cup with Spain, LaLiga, the Spanish Supercopa, 24 goals and 18 assists — that résumé beats Mbappé's trophy-less season for club and country, and it isn't a campaign, it's a case.
Ousmane Dembélé's top three read Mbappé, Kvaratskhelia, Kane. Yamal's reply — "he's Kylian's friend, no?" — was the sharpest thing anyone has said in this race, and it makes the point: voters reward narrative, not medals. Which is why his own gap matters. He calls the Champions League the most special competition there is, and Flick's Barça have gone semifinal, then quarterfinal, without it.
Feyenoord at Spotify Camp Nou opens that account, with the Oct. 26 ceremony in London as the fixed point ahead. Four LaLiga wins and 17 goals say the machine is running; Europe is where it gets tested, and where Yamal can add the one line his résumé lacks. Whether Flick's front line reproduces that scoring rate against organised Dutch defending is the first real read on whether a no-campaign case actually stands.
WHY IT MATTERS
Yamal's refusal to campaign reframes the Ballon d'Or debate around trophies rather than lobbying, and it puts a teenage World Cup winner in direct contrast with a trophy-less rival.
Lamine Yamal
RW
Spain
Strengths
- ✓Elite one-on-one dribbling and ball-carrying in wide areas
- ✓Consistent end product: 24 goals and 18 assists last season
- ✓Proven at major tournaments with World Cup and European Championship wins
- ⚠He has still not won the Champions League, the one major title missing from his collection.
- ⚠At 19, can he carry the creative load for both Barcelona and Spain across a full season?
TACTICAL FIT
Flick's side have started LaLiga with four wins and 17 goals, and Yamal remains the creative hub Spain and Barcelona build around as they chase a first Champions League since 2015.
THE DEBATE
Does Yamal's World Cup and LaLiga double outweigh Mbappé's individual brilliance?
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Valencia was 'NOT EVEN A CHALLENGE' for Lamine Yamal and Barcelona - Craig Burley (8:55)
Sam Marsden Sep 8, 2026, 09:43 AM ET
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Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal said he won't "beg" to be given the Ballon d'Or after helping Spain win the World Cup this summer.
Football's most coveted individual prize will be awarded on Oct. 26 in London, with Yamal one of the candidates in a very open field to be named the world's best player.
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé is also considered a potential winner, with the France forward stating his case to win the award this week despite a trophy-less season with club and country.
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"Firstly, it doesn't depend on me [who wins the Ballon d'Or], it depends on you [the media]," Yamal said in a news conference ahead of Wednesday's Champions League opener against Feyenoord.
"This year has been incredible, with Barça and with Spain. There's a chance I could win it because I have had a great year.
"I don't think I need to run a campaign. I am proud of the year I had, winning the World Cup and LaLiga. I can't ask for anything else.
"There are other players who have been at an incredible level. But it's your job [to decide]; I am not going to beg for anything."
Yamal was told last year's winner, Paris Saint-Germain and France's Ousmane Dembélé, didn't include him in his top three for this year's prize, instead opting for Mbappé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Harry Kane.
"He's Kylian's friend, no?" the Barça teenager joked when told about Dembélé's picks.
"It doesn't bother me, genuinely. I am very happy with the year I had. When I came up against them [Mbappé and Dembélé at the World Cup], I won.
"I get on very well with Ousmane. I understand he wants to go with other players, but I am happy with the year I had."
Yamal, 19, scored 24 goals and provided 18 assists last season as Barça won LaLiga and the Spanish Supercopa.
He was then part of the Spain squad which won the World Cup this past summer, following up success in the European Championships in 2024, and the only major title he is now missing is the Champions League.
"There is no bigger motivation than winning the Champions League," Yamal said. "Everyone wants to win it, it's the most special competition there is.
"This season, collectively, I want to keep winning trophies and [a first] Champions League.
"Individually, the goal is to keep growing. I have a lot to room to improve as a young player, so that's my objective."
After being nominated on Tuesday for Ballon d'Or Men's Young Talent of the Year alongside teammate Pau Cubarsí, Yamal said of Cubarsí on Instagram: "He's the only one."
Barça strengthened in the summer with the additions of Rodri and Anthony Gordon, among others, as they look to win a first Champions League trophy since 2015.
They have started well in LaLiga, winning all four of their opening games and scoring 17 goals in the process, and kick off their European campaign at Spotify Camp Nou against Dutch side Feyenoord this week.
Lamine Yamal scored 24 goals to help Barcelona win LaLiga and the Spanish Supercopa.David Ramos/Getty Images
After reaching the semifinal and then the quarterfinal under Hansi Flick in the last two years, the German coach believes his team can go one better this season.
"Every big club dreams about this because it's the best competition," Flick said in a news conference ahead of Barça's Champions League opener.
"We have the quality to win this, but it's a long way. It's just started, but we have to show it, not only in LaLiga but in the Champions League, this is what we have to do."
AI-assisted · generated from ESPN FC reporting, not editor reviewed
