Barcelona closed the Ballon d'Or chapter with an outstanding performance by its young striker Lamine Yamal, who repeated on the podium for the second consecutive year. At 19 years old, Yamal is positioned as the youngest player in history to have reached first place in the Young Talent category, with 881 points, just two points away from his Cuban rival Pau Cubarsí. The award, which recognizes the best player in the world, was decided after the publication of the votes of the 100 countries participating in the FIFA ranking, where 13 nations awarded Yamal first place.
The final result showed Harry Kane as champion with 1,055 points, closely followed by Kylian Mbappé with 1,027. Yamal, with 881, completed the podium, while Cuban Pau Cubarsí was in second place with 94 points. Spain's vote, cast by José Félix Díaz, editorial director of the newspaper AS, favored Mbappé, who ranked ahead of Yamal in 62 of the 100 countries. Even so, Yamal managed to surpass the Cuban by two points, consolidating himself as the top vote-getter in 13 countries, including Albania, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Honduras, Jordan, North Macedonia, Mexico, Wales, Portugal, Switzerland, Tunisia and Türkiye.
In the Young Talent category, Yamal also remained at the top, accumulating 96 points compared to Cubarsí's 94. The award, which only includes players under 21 years of age, was decided among former Ballon d'Or winners, who voted Yamal in first place. Among the voters are Dembélé, Rodri, Benzema, Modric, Messi, Kaká, Shevchenko, Owen, Figo, Ronaldo Nazario, Papin, Matthäus, Belanov, Simonsen and Blokhin. Only Gullit, Baggio and Van Basten managed to put Yamal off the podium. Cubarsí, for his part, was voted first by Cannavaro, Ronaldinho, Nedved, Rivaldo, Sammer, Weah, Stoichkov, Baggio, Van Basten, Gullit, Rummenigge and Rivera.
Barcelona also celebrated other recognitions. Pere Romeu, the club's coach, won the Best Coach award with 84 points, beating Jonatan Giráldez (26) and Andrée Jeglertz (22) of Manchester City. In the Young Female Talent category, Vicky López was crowned with 21 points, followed by Clara Serrajordi (11) and Veerle Buurman (7) from Chelsea.
With these achievements, Barcelona reinforces its position as one of the most influential clubs in world football, while Yamal continues to establish itself as the most outstanding promise of the current generation. The next step will be for the forward to continue his development and aspire to become the youngest winner in the history of the Ballon d'Or, a goal that, in his own words, remains within reach.