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Lamine Yamal<\/a> has said the Ballon d’Or<\/a> should be won by the footballer who most excites fans and not be judged on goals scored.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yamal is among the contenders for the 2026 Ballon d’Or which will be announced next month at a 70-year anniversary ceremony in London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The 19-year-old finished as runner-up for last year’s award, and could become the youngest-ever winner in 2026, after winning La Liga withBarcelona<\/a> and the World Cup<\/a> with Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe are also considered frontrunners after prolific campaigns for club and country, but Yamal questioned whether the Ballon d’Or should be judged by statistics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He said the award should be handed to the best footballer, based on how their football impacts the fans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Ballon d\u2019Or in my view has nothing to do with the number of goals scored\u201d, he told France Football.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Ballon d\u2019Or recognises the best player of the year, a unique player, the one who gives pleasure watching, the one for whom you tune into a match just to see him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBallon d\u2019Or means a different player. Not goals scored, nothing like that. When I think about the Ballon d\u2019Or, I think of Messi, Ronaldinho, players like that, who are different, who bring a smile when you watch them play.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yamal also discussed his own argument for the award toL’Equipe<\/a>. He said his success for both Barcelona<\/a> and Spain puts him in the conversation for a record-breaking win.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEveryone who watches football knows what my arguments are,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I’ve been able to win a lot of titles with Bar\u00e7a and, lately, I’ve been able to win the most important title, which is the World Cup<\/a> with my national team. We want to keep winning and individually, I’m very happy.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n