I deserve Ballon d’Or this year — Barca’s Yamal

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File: Barcelona’s Spanish forward Lamine Yamal. Photo by MANAURE QUINTERO / AFP.

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Lamine Yamal believes he and Kylian Mbappe are the two best players in the world and said he deserves to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or after a trophy-laden year with Barcelona and Spain.

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“For me, Mbappe and me, we’re the two best players in the world,” the 19-year-old Barcelona winger said in an interview on Movistar Plus, excerpts of which were published on Sunday.

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“I honestly think that, as the best in the world, maybe there are two of us, and this year I would deserve it because of what I’ve won,” he added.

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Yamal helped Barcelona retain La Liga before becoming a world champion with Spain this summer, strengthening his claim for the game’s most prestigious individual award.

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He had struck a more measured tone at a press conference last Tuesday, saying he believed he had a chance after an “incredible” season but would not beg for votes.

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Mbappe, meanwhile, has also made his case for the award in recent days.

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The France captain finished as top scorer in La Liga, the Champions League and the World Cup, although Real Madrid failed to win a major trophy.

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Yamal’s Barcelona and Spain teammate Ousmane Dembele, last year’s winner, believes the award should remain with a Paris Saint-Germain player after the French club retained the Champions League.

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Bayern Munich striker and England international Harry Kane is also among the favourites to win the award, which will be issued in London on October 26.

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