Ballon d’Or: Yamal's uncle accuses vote splitting

After having taken second place in the Ballon d’Or behind Ousmane Dembélé last year, the prodigy of FC Barcelona Lamine Yamal stepped onto the podium, but had to settle for the third step, overtaken by Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé at Monday night’s ceremony in London, where his uncle spoke on Cadena Ser.

A new podium, but not the victory

The previous year, Yamal had finished second, placed just behind Ousmane Dembélé. This time, the young Spanish striker saw his dream of first place evaporate, despite a season judged exceptional at FC Barcelona.

His uncle, speaking on Cadena Ser, expressed a strong emotion.

“I am very sad, I feel terrible. My nephew is very good, he is the best player in the world, everyone knows it. If you love football, you will (go to the stadium) see Lamine Yamal, not Harry Kane. Harry Kane is a goal‑scorer, Lamine Yamal is the best. He has no luck. Next year. People say he is young, that he will win more. But Harry Kane, he only has three days of career left, so they give him the Ballon d’Or. Lamine has won everything, La Liga, the World Cup, the Super Cup, he had an incredible season. He scores goals that nobody else scores, assists, everything you want. He will win more than one Ballon d’Or. He will win five!”

The split of votes and the Spanish votes

Vincent Garcia, head of France Football, explained that the distribution of votes had penalised the young prodigy.

“If we analyse the votes, we see that there was a split of voices among the Spanish world champions between Rodri and Lamine Yamal. Rodri took votes away from Lamine on this vote.”

Real Madrid miss chance while Harry Kane lifts historic Ballon d’Or

The phenomenon of vote splitting thus deprived Yamal of a victory, while Spain dominated the ceremony by taking eight of the twelve trophies awarded, including the Yashin Trophy for Unai Simón and the best‑coach award for Luis de la Fuente.

Rivals and a bittersweet feeling

Harry Kane, described as a “goal‑scorer” by Yamal’s uncle, won the Ballon d’Or, while Kylian Mbappé, whose season with Real Madrid was judged irregular, received the Golden Boot in North America. The two thus outran the young Spaniard on the podium.

Lamine Yamal bows out of Golden Boy glory as he eyes Ballon d’Or

Despite these disappointments, Yamal was honoured with his third consecutive Kopa trophy, reserved for the best young player, leaving a taste that is both bitter and motivating for the future of Spanish football.