Yamal rules out PSG players from Ballon d'Or race: "Just a coincidence"

Lamine Yamal has weighed in on the Ballon d’Or debate, arguing that PSG’s Champions League victory should not influence the selection of the world’s best player. The Barcelona prodigy, 19, spoke to Movistar ahead of the ceremony scheduled for October 26 in London.

“The problem is that people attach more importance to things that have nothing to do with the Ballon d’Or, like when they say a PSG player should win because he won the Champions League,” said the Spanish winger. For him, collective honours should not outweigh individual quality: “When you win the Champions League, the Champions League trophy goes to PSG as the best team. It’s another matter entirely to say that PSG has the world’s best player in its ranks.”

Yamal himself won the World Cup with Spain this season, yet he rejects the same logic applied to his own case. “It’s just a coincidence that I’m part of the team that won the World Cup. If England had won it, I would still say that Mbappé and I are the best,” he stated, naming the Frenchman among the few players he genuinely considers in contention.

His definition of the ideal winner departs from conventional criteria: “The best is the player you watch, who is different from everyone else, not the one who scores the most goals or the one who has won the most titles.” A view that, unsurprisingly, positions him well to succeed reigning holder Ousmane Dembélé.

PSG nonetheless presents several serious candidates this season: Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia — named best player of the 2025-2026 Champions League — and Fabian Ruiz, also a World Cup winner with Spain. The October 26 ceremony will decide between contenders whose credentials, according to Yamal, are not all equally valid.