Yamal after the Ballon d'Or award: "A league will come soon"

Spanish star Lamine Yamal, winger for Barcelona, expressed confidence in his ability to win the Ballon d'Or in the coming years after finishing third in the 2026 edition. He emphasized that he is not in a hurry to receive this prestigious individual award in football.

The 19-year-old player wrote on Tuesday via his Instagram account: “It will happen, beautiful things take time. I trust the path I am on, without rushing, and with a lot of hope, knowing that my time will come one day.”

Yamal added: “I congratulate the winners, and I will focus on what is most important, which is helping Barcelona achieve victories,” in a message following the announcement of the award results, where he was considered one of the top contenders.

Lamine Yamal finished third in the Ballon d'Or race for 2026, behind England's Harry Kane, striker for Bayern Munich, and France's Kylian Mbappé, star of Real Madrid, despite winning the World Cup with the Spanish national team last summer.

The young player won the Best Young Player award for the third consecutive year, after finishing second in the 2025 Ballon d'Or race, behind France's Ousmane Dembélé, player for Paris Saint-Germain.

Lamine Yamal had previously stated in an interview that he deserves to win the Ballon d'Or this year, considering himself on par with Mbappé as the best player in the world. However, he settled for third place and reaffirmed his determination to continue working towards his dream of winning it in the future.