When, as expected, Lamine Yamal lines up for reigning world and European champions Spain against England in the Uefa Nations League at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, he will win his 34th cap at the age of 19 years, two months and 13 days.
In that time, Yamal has already crammed in more success and major silverware than a large number of elite-level footballers manage across an entire career.
For Spain alone, he has won the 2024 European Championships and last summer's World Cup, and finished runner-up in the 2024/25 Nations League. In 33 appearances, the winger has scored seven goals and supplied 13 assists, helping La Roja embark on a 38-game unbeaten run stretching back to March 2024 under coach Luis de la Fuente.
In his club colours of Barcelona, Yamal has secured three La Liga titles, two Spanish Super Cups and one Copa del Rey, scoring 57 and assisting 58 from his 159 appearances. These are superstar statistics for club and country, considering his 20th birthday does not arrive until July 2027.
His new season with back-to-back domestic champions Barca has started in a similar vein – eight goals from as many games, plus six assists – helping the Catalan giants win all of their matches so far and leaving Yamal very much in the running to win his first Ballon d'Or.
“I would give it to the best player in the world,” Yamal said in an interview with Movistar last week. “And I think I deserve it this year because of what I've won. For me, [Kylian] Mbappe and I are the best in the world. It is clear to me. Everyone who watches the matches knows it.”
Despite Spain lifting the crown for a second time, Yamal did not have the impact many expected in North America after missing the end of Barca's season with a hamstring injury that badly hindered his preparation for the finals.
Yamal managed just one goal and one assist in eight matches but maintains that his presence on the pitch was still important to De la Fuente's team.
“After winning the World Cup, I wasn't happy,” he added. “That said, I did a lot of things that people didn't see. For example, I think it's incredible for a coach to have a player who can drag three opponents along with him … I did help the team, but I can't wait for the next [World Cup] to arrive.”
Yamal's expectation of winning the Ballon d'Or are shared by many in the football world, despite England and Bayern Munich's goal machine Harry Kane – who is set to captain the Three Lions on Saturday – being the current favourite ahead of the Spanish teenager and Real Madrid and France attacker Mbappe.
Other Barca players, past and present, who have backed Yamal's cause include Xavi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo and Raphinha.
“Without a doubt, yes,” said Raphinha when the Brazilian was asked this week whether his current Barca teammate should win the award. “I believe that winning the Ballon d'Or is about individual statistics, team honours and the magic he has on the pitch. Charisma and everything like this … Lamine has them all.”
Kane's own statistics over the last year have been at the level produced over a long period by only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who dominated the Ballon d'Or between 2008 and 2023, winning the award 13 times between them.
The 33-year-old striker scored a breathtaking 73 goals for club (61) and country (12) last season – the second-most in a single campaign this century behind Messi's 82 goals for Barca and Argentina in 2011/12 – helping Bayern Munich win the domestic double and England finish in third place at the World Cup.
Kane's new campaign has already seen him win the German Super Cup with Bayern and score six times in seven games.
Winger Anthony Gordon – a teammate of Kane for England and Yamal for Barca – believes the award is a two-horse race. “For me, it has to be one of [Yamal or Kane] in terms of what they’ve achieved,” he told talkSPORT.
“What Lamine’s achieved at such a young age. The kind of player he is, is ridiculous. He’s on a whole other level right now. For a 19-year-old to be doing what he’s doing is crazy.
“But if we were talking off last season, H [Kane] has got as big of an argument as anybody because his season was historic,” Gordon added. “The amount of goals he scored, the things he’s done for us at the World Cup [six goals in seven games] … they both have large arguments.”
In a lengthy interview with L'Equipe this week, Yamal was again making his Ballon d'Or pitch, insisting that the verdict should not be based on the number of goals scored but rather on the excitement a player brings to the game.
“[It] is the trophy that rewards the best player of the year, the exceptional player, the one you enjoy watching play, to the point of watching a match just for him. I think that's what it is, an exceptional player. It has nothing to do with the number of goals he scores or anything else.
“When I think of the Ballon d'Or, I think of Messi, Ronaldinho, players like them, who are different and who make you smile when you watch them.”
While Yamal and Mbappe are both making determined media pushes for their respective cases ahead of next month's award ceremony, Kane is taking his trademark, more understated approach.
“I have never liked talking too much about myself,” he told Marca last week. “The only thing I would say is that last season was incredible, both personally and as a team. By far, it was the best season of my life … But the Ballon d'Or is not in my hands.”
