Lamine Yamal has spoken openly about not winning the 2025 Ballon d’Or, explaining that Ousmane Dembélé’s triumph ultimately helped him mature. The young Spanish star admitted he was still too inexperienced at the time to fully appreciate what winning the award would have meant.
This was his statement speaking to the media:
“I thought I was going to win it that day in 2025 because of many things that happened. Looking back, I think it was very good for me that Dembélé won it”.
“Beyond helping me grow personally, I don’t think it was the right time for me to win it because I was still a kid and probably wouldn’t have appreciated what it really means to win a Ballon d’Or. Let’s see if this year is mine!”.
Softfootball gathered, Yamal remains positive and ambitious heading into 2026, expressing hope that this could be the year he finally has a real shot at the prestigious award.
Speaking about the 2026 World Cup, the Barcelona winger shared his excitement and confidence, even making a light‑hearted promise: he will grow his beard and moustache for three weeks if Spain win the tournament.
