Spain boss Luis de la Fuente has tipped Lamine Yamal to win the Ballon d'Or on multiple occasions in the future, after the winger was beaten to the 2026 prize by Harry Kane.
De la Fuente tips Yamal for future Ballon d'Or glory after missing out to Kane
Lamine Yamal finished third in the Ballon d'Or voting, but Luis de la Fuente expects him to win the award in the future.
Having helped Barcelona retain their LaLiga title and Spain win the World Cup during the voting period, Yamal finished third, with Kane scooping the prize and Kylian Mbappe placing second.
Yamal tallied 41 goal involvements across all competitions in 2025-26 (24 goals, 17 assists), with only five players from Europe's top five leagues managing more.
The teenager also attempted (429) and completed (225) more dribbles than any other player in that group, as well as ranking joint-sixth for chances created (118) with 59 of those coming after a carry – only Vinicius Junior (60) had more.
In the lead-up to Monday's award ceremony in London, De la Fuente repeatedly said the prize should go to a Spain player, with Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella, Rodri, Ferran Torres and Fabian Ruiz all nominated.
And the Roja boss does not expect missing out on this year's award to affect Yamal in the future.
"Lamine Yamal is going to win many Ballon d'Or awards, many individual trophies, but more importantly, he is going to win many more team trophies. I know he values that more," he said, as quoted by ESPN.
"He needs to be calm because we know who he is and what he represents. We know the potential he has, the great footballer he is and the great person he is."
Yamal did win the Kopa Trophy – awarded to the best player under the age of 21 – for a third straight year, and Barcelona president Joan Laporta expects him to be motivated by missing out on the top prize.
"What Lamine has done is unique," Laporta said in an interview with Cadena Cope. "He's won the young player award for the third consecutive time.
"We are very proud of him. He deserves everything. We will all help him to be even more motivated next year to get this award.
"Now we have to give him love, which he deserves. All of us, together, will cheer him on so he can win this award next year."
