'My time will come too' – Yamal confident of future Ballon d'Or triumph

Lamine Yamal, who finished third in the 2026 Ballon d'Or vote, is confident he will one day win the prestigious award.

Yamal ended the 2025-26 season with silverware, winning LaLiga with Barcelona before carrying his form into the World Cup and playing a major part in Spain lifting the trophy.

Despite that, the young star finished third, behind Bayern Munich's Harry Kane, the first English player to win the award since 2001, and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé.

Yamal was directly involved in 41 goals across all competitions in 2025-26 (24 goals, 17 assists). Only five players in Europe's top five leagues bettered that figure.

The youngster also attempted (429) and completed (225) more dribbles than anyone else in that group, while his 118 chances created left him joint-sixth. Yamal produced 59 of those chances from carries, a figure bettered only by Vinicius Junior (60).

Yamal did not leave the ceremony empty-handed, winning the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best player under 21, for the third consecutive time, but he has his sights firmly set on the biggest prize of all.

In a post on social media, Yamal wrote: "That day will come; good things take time. I trust the path I'm building. There's no rush, just excitement and a calm belief that one day my turn will come. Congratulations to the winners. Now I'm fully focused on what matters most: helping Barcelona win again."

Yamal has also made a blistering start to the 2026-27 season, leading LaLiga with 20 goal involvements (10 goals, 10 assists) across all competitions. The young star tops the league for assists (10) and chances created (45), while in the race for the top scorer's crown he trails only Raphinha (15) and Mbappé (14).