A family that did not hide its disappointment
Lamine Yamal finished third in the 2026 Ballon d’Or, and his camp is not taking it quietly. Cameras caught the 19-year-old slumped in his seat at the London Palladium when Harry Kane’s name was read out. Within minutes, his uncle Abdul was on Spanish radio making the case that the wrong man had won.
Speaking on Cadena SER, as reported by RMC Sport, Abdul said his nephew was the best player in the world and that anyone who loves football would pick Lamine over Kane. He pointed to a World Cup, a Liga title and a Supercopa on the teenager’s résumé, and argued that Kane has only three days of competition left to his name. His prediction: five Ballons d’Or to come.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Laporta and the Catalan press pile in
Barcelona president Joan Laporta took a calmer tone but landed in the same place. He said Yamal deserved to win, that the voters decided otherwise, and that the disappointment should become fuel. He added he is convinced the trophy will arrive one day, though he would not guess when.
Mundo Deportivo went further. Its columnist wrote that Kane is a fine scorer and a good man, but that the magic belongs to Yamal, and that the Ballon d’Or voters rarely dare to take a risk. Kane also collected the Golden Boot on the way to the trophy, which is the kind of tangible output the Catalan side argues is overrated.
Discover the rest of our Football news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply