Lamine Yamal insists the Ballon d’Or honors icons such as Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho, arguing the prize fits players of their flair more than mere statistics.
So, should the trophy chase goals or genius? In an extensive interview with L’Équipe, the Barcelona forward explained the award celebrates the player who makes you tune in just to watch him, not the one who racks up scores. The Ballon d’Or, as you say, is the trophy that rewards the best player of the year, the exceptional player, the one you enjoy watching so much that you’d watch a match just for him… It has nothing to do with how many goals he scores or anything like that. When I think about the Ballon d’Or, I think of Messi, Ronaldinho, players like them, who are different and who make you smile when you watch them play, he said.
That reply highlights a broader theme Yamal repeats about his own game: he shuns numbers and lets his artistry speak, the very quality he links to Ballon d’Or‑worthy talent.
I think every football fan knows my strengths. I go out on the field, I enjoy myself, I play well, and I play my way. Luckily, I’ve also been able to win a lot of titles with Barça, and on top of that I won the most important title, the World Cup, with my national team. But beyond that, I think my style of play is my greatest strength; it’s what makes me different. For my money, that flair is his biggest asset,
Will Yamal’s elegant play finally eclipse the goal‑guzzling duels of Kane and Mbappe?
If style is Yamal’s calling card, sheer goal output separates his two most likely rivals. Harry Kane enters this Ballon d’Or cycle off a historic run, having scored 73 goals last season, the second‑most prolific single season by any player this century, trailing only Messi’s 82‑goal haul from 2011‑12 and surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous record of 69.
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That tally earned Kane his second career European Golden Shoe, on top of a World Cup where he broke Gary Lineker’s record to become England’s all‑time leading scorer at the tournament, finishing joint‑fifth on the competition’s all‑time scoring list.
Kylian Mbappe’s case rests on a similarly relentless scoring pace. The Frenchman led the 2026 World Cup with 14 goal involvements, edging out Messi for the tournament’s top spot, and in the process became the all‑time leading scorer in World Cup history with 22 career goals. He’s carried that form into the new season, already sitting on seven goals in LaLiga through Real Madrid’s first seven matches.
Between Kane’s Golden Shoe‑winning volume and Mbappe’s World Cup‑topping tally, Yamal’s argument that style should outweigh stats faces its toughest test against two players who have plenty of both.