Football fans have taken to social media to tip Spain’s young star, Lamine Yamal for the 2025 Ballon d’Or award following his impressive performance against France.
Yamal led Spain to a 5-4 win in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals, he scored a brace while also boosting his chances of winning the prestigious award with a match-winning performance.
The battle for the Ballon d’Or award dominated the pre-match discussions with football fans labelling it as a decider but Yamal floored the overwhelming favourite, Ousmane Dembele, who had a quiet game.
Yamal’s performance drew praises from Spain coach, Luis de la Fuente, who described him as the best player in the world.
He said: “Lamine Yamal has made a statement tonight and shown that he should win the Ballon d’Or.
“He’s the best player in the world and, in my opinion, of course, he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or.
“On the field, there were two of the best teams in the world. The game went in our favour.
“It’s not easy to score five goals against an opponent. We took our chances very well. It shows the high level of the players.”
Meanwhile, Yamal opened up on his motivation after the game while
He said: “I always say the same thing to [my] mum, that I try to give my all.
“That is what motivates me and what gets me up in the morning. It is why I play football. It’s always best to speak on the pitch.”
The Barcelona young star was asked about his individual rivalry with Ousmane Dembele.
Yamal said: “Dembele’s a great player, we saw that in the UEFA Champions League, but I am happy that we’re the ones in the final.
“France are a great side with world class players, it’s normal that they force you to suffer in moments.
“They have players that keep going and push you until the end. But we are really happy to win the game.
“It will be an even final against Portugal, just like this game. “They have world class players like France.
“It’s a game between two really good sides and I hope the best team wins and we take the trophy back to Spain.”
Spain will take on Portugal in the Nations League final on Sunday while France, and Germany will battle it out in the third place clash.
Similarly, football fans wax lyrical about Yamal’s performance against Spain, declaring him as the next Ballon d’Or winner.
Ibrahim Noyon praised Yamal for outshining the PSG duo of Ousmane Dembele, and Desire Doue in the encounter.
He wrote on X: “Lamine Yamal outshined Dembélé, Mbappé, Doué, and Olise for Player of the Match is huge. His 48 goal contributions this season show why he’s a Ballon d’Or contender at 17.”
Kudapena is backing Yamal to win the Ballon d’Or while noting that he may not have the numbers of Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
He wrote on X: Well, he may not yet score many goals like Messi, and Ronaldo, but he individually performs better than other players. He may not win the Champions League, but he won some trophies too this season with Barca. And if he can win the final of the Nations League, well he deserves to be awarded the Ballon d’Or.”
CFC Riches wrote on X: “Honestly, If Yamal was playing across any generation in the last 100 years he’d get 10x more praise than today. He keeps it simple, does what’s needed in front of him and goes home happy and mostly with the award. Humble isn’t just talking nice, it’s talking straight. Genius.”
Chok Majok wrote on Facebook: “Give Yamal the Balloon D’or because this is the final we were waiting for Dembele is a lady to lamine Yamal”.
Zanni wrote on Facebook: “He has outshined Doue, Dembele and Mbappe at the same time. He is better than all of them combined. Give him his Ballon d’Or “.
Monkoa wrote on X: “No one will ever turn on his TV because they want to watch Dembele or Desire Doue play football but thousands of people turn their TV on just to watch Lamine Yamal.”
Yamal, and Dembele will slug it out for the Ballon d’Or award in August after their impressive performances in the just-concluded season.
Yamal enjoyed a prolific season with Barcelona, scoring 19 goals, and 25 assists while leading the club to a domestic treble in Hansi Flick’s first season.
Dembele scored 33 goals, and recorded 15 assists in all competitions for PSG to lead the club to an historic treble including a first-ever Champions League trophy.
For the fourth time in the history of the award, it will be given based on the results of the season instead of the calendar year. This is the period from 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025.
The ceremony will take place on September 22, and nominees are expected to be announced in August 2025.
Yamal will be hoping to be the youngest player to win the award at the age of 17 years after Ronaldo De Lima won it at the age of 21 in 1997.
