Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe have been giving an awful lot of interviews lately as they aggressively campaign to win the Ballon d'Or despite most people not taking their candidacies very seriously during the actual 2025/26 season. But since the Ballon d'Or, thanks to Lionel Messi winning over the likes of Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski unfairly since 2020, has become more of a popularity contest than a serious award, the media conversations months after the season end suddenly hold more weight than the actual games.
That can be the only explanation for why Yamal, who was Spain's least impressive starter in their World Cup triumph and scored only 16 goals with 11 assists in La Liga, is seen as a top candidate. And Mbappe even being anywhere near the Ballon d'Or discussion is an absolute joke, as he barely beat Vedat Muriqi for the Pichichi award and won absolutely nothing for Real Madrid, converting a lower percentage of his chances than Luka Jovic of Mariano Diaz did in the Spanish capital. And while he was the leading World Cup goal scorer, Mbappe did not win for France either, flopping badly against Spain when it mattered most in the semifinals.
But Yamal is touting himself and Mbappe as the two main Ballon d'Or candidates, arguing without any supporting evidence that they are the best players in the world right now and should win the award, not even acknowledging that Harry Kane was the best player of the 2025/26 season, which is actually what the award is supposed to be about, contrary to his bizarre argument. And instead of providing stats or evidence to counter Kane's 73 goals and incredible all around play as a creator and defender for Bayern Munich, he has totally bypassed even discussing Kane as an argument against him.
Lamine Yamal is snubbing Harry Kane on purpose
Lamine Yamal said, via Fabrizio Romano, “Even if England had won the World Cup, I’d still say that Mbappé and I are the two best players in the world. The Ballon d’Or isn’t about who wins, it’s
for the best player. It’s different concept”.
Notice how he did not even mention Kane by name, just England as a country. That is smart, because he gets Kane mentioned less in the media, and by undermining Kane and positioning Mbappe as his Ballon d'Or competition, Yamal knows he is increasing his chances. Because as he later said in that same interview, if it is Mbappe vs. him, he will obviously win because he won La Liga and the World Cup both over Mbappe.
But as Yamal said, the Ballon d'Or is about the best player, not the best team. And Kane was the best player. He scored many more goals, had much better defensive effort, and displayed more creativity despite having fewer assists because he was willing to play further away from the goal and deeper to create. Plus, 73 goals in one season is untouchabel except to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who always won the Ballon d'Or with these numbers. It would make no sense for Kane to not win it with these numbers. But Yamal is propping up Mbappe to distract from the numbers and give himself an easier advesary to win the Ballon d'Or.
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