Lamine Yamal: Spain Vs France Could Determine The Competition Of The Ballon D'Or With Dembele

JAKARTA - Barcelona star Lamine Yamal is pleased to mention the UEFA Nations League semifinal between Spain and France on June 6, 2025 WIB, as determinant of the Ballon d'Or competition between himself and Ousmane Dembele.

The 17-year-old has the opportunity to win the coveted individual award after an extraordinary season, just like his teammate Raphinha.

However, Dembele may have outperformed both of them after helping Paris Saint-Germain win the Champions League.

"Who do you choose: the best player this season or whoever won the Spain vs France match?"

"For me, this is the best player of the year, but everyone sees it in their own way."

"I'm sure we will win on Thursday, but win or not, I will choose the best player of the year. For me, this is based on (performance) throughout the year," Yamal told Cope about the competition.

Spain won the UEFA Nations League semifinals with a score of 5-4. Yamal contributed one goal through a penalty spot.

Yamal, who scored 18 goals and made 25 assists in 55 appearances as Barcelona won domestic trebles this season, will not reveal where his vote will be directed.

Even so, he said that according to him Raphinha was the best striker in the Champions League.

He also emphasized that winning the Ballon d'Or was not his main goal, by showing that the glory of the Champions League and the World Cup with Barcelona and the Spanish National Team were their respective goals in 2026.

"In the end, I don't think about (Ballon d'Or) or whether I will win it because I'm sure the result will be bad if you feel the need to win the Ballon d'Or or you have to win the Ballon d'Or."

"I think about playing, winning, and it will come. In the end, if next year I win the Champions League and the World Cup, it will come."

"It's about enjoying yourself and it will arrive when it has to arrive," he said.

The Spanish vs France match is a repeat of the Euro 2024 semifinal which La Roja won 2-1 and then won the tournament after beating England in the final (2-1).

Unfortunately, Spain's journey to the UEFA Nations League only ended as runners-up. They were beaten by Portugal on penalties 5-3 after the match went 2-2 to extra time.

Meanwhile, Spain's victory over France last week, according to Yamal, was the fruit of its success in using criticism as motivation for itself.

"To be honest, I didn't realize everything that was said about me, but a lot of things got to me.

"I probably didn't see my phone, but a friend called me and told me this or that."

"So, I found out through them. They sent me a lot of things from TikTok, good things, bad things sometimes. They know it motivates me, more than anything before the game."

"They sent me 20 minutes before the game to motivate me. They know I wasn't nervous before the game."

"For example, against France (at Euro 2025), I was sleeping on the bus, I woke up and my friend called me."

"They said, remember what (Rabiot) said about you. I said yes, yes, of course I remember, don't worry".

"The game started, they scored goals, I looked at the stands and my friends signaled to say 'remember'."

"It made me excited. I entered that zone not to stop running and so on. That's how it motivated me," said Yamal.