Featured Image Credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Contributor via Getty
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Barcelona, Football, Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembele, PSG
James Taylor
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Barcelona, Football, Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembele, PSG
Lamine Yamal's father has issued a scathing statement after his son missed out on the Ballon d'Or.
The Barcelona and Spain star was beaten to the award for the world's best men's player by Ousmane Dembele. Dembele enjoyed an outstanding season with PSG, scoring 35 goals and registering 16 assists as the French side completed a historic treble.
Yamal also had a remarkable year, bagging 18 times and helping Barcelona to a domestic treble of the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de Espana and La Liga Despite those achievements, it was not enough to secure the Ballon d'Or.
Yamal finished second behind Dembele and collected the Kopa Trophy, which is handed to the best player under the age of 21. But his family were left furious with the result.
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Yamal's father Mounir told El Chiringuito: “I think this is the biggest… not robbery, I won’t say that, but the greatest moral harm to a human being.
“I believe that Lamine is the best player in the world by far, by a huge margin.
"Not because he’s my son… he’s just the best in the world. I don’t think he has rivals”.
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“I say that something very strange has happened here. Greetings to all of Spain, and next year the Ballon d'Or will be Spanish, will be ours.”
After PSG's outstanding 2024/25 campaign, five of their players made the top 10.
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Vitinha claimed third spot, after Nations League glory with Portugal, while Achraf Hakimi finished sixth.
Former goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was ninth and Nuno Mendes rounded off the top 10.
From the Premier League, Liverpool's Mo Salah took fourth and Chelsea's Cole finished eighth.
Barcelona's Raphinha was recognised with fifth place, while Kylian Mbappe had to settle for seventh.
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Rodri, who won last year's Ballon d'Or, was not even nominated after missing the majority of the season with injury.
In the women's Ballon d'Or, Barcelona and Spain's midfielder Aitana Bonmati made history by winning her third consecutive title, becoming the first woman to achieve that feat.
Arsenal and England striker Alessio Russo had to settle for third, despite winning both the Champions League and Euros.
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The Lionesses were recognised elsewhere, with Sarina Wiegman named best woman's coach and Hannah Hampton winning best women's goalkeeper.
On the men's side, PSG boss Luis Enrique claimed the coaching success, while Donnarumma took best goalkeeper despite joining Manchester City in the summer.
Arsenal's summer signing Viktor Gyokeres secured the Gerd Muller trophy, while Ewa Pajor collected the women's equivalent.