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Lamine Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, has accused the Spanish judge for this year’s Ballon d’Or of being a Kylian Mbappé “fanboy” and questioned why he didn’t vote for one of his compatriots, such as the Barcelona forward.
Yamal finished third at last week’s ceremony in London, trailing Real Madrid’s Mbappé and the Bayern Munich winner Harry Kane. The most prestigious individual accolade in soccer has been a clear goal for the teenager for years. Before finishing second at last year’s event, Yamal famously revealed: “I told my friends, I don’t dream about winning a Ballon d’Or, I dream about winning many.”
Yet, for a second season in succession, the teenage sensation was left to look up at the top spot from a lower step on the podium.
The Ballon d’Or judging can be a fickle process. The winner is decided by a panel of 100 journalists from the top 100 ranked FIFA nations at the time of consideration. Spain’s judge for 2026 was José Félix Díaz, the respected director of Diario AS, who has now come under the ire of Yamal’s father.
Lamine Yamal walked into hell and made it magical. pic.twitter.com/kpjJwnSlWM
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) October 13, 2026
“I’d like you to put one of those people who voted for Mbappé on screen someday; I’d love to talk to him. You’re a ‘Mbappé-fanboy’ too, mate,” Nasraoui fumed during an interview with prominent Barcelona fan and internet personality Jota Jordi.
“This only happens here in Spain,” Yamal’s father continued when reflecting on Félix Díaz’s failure to vote for a Spaniard. “If the best player in the world played for Real Madrid... they just vote for their own! I’m not saying... It’s about the individual player, not the team. We’re in the 21st century, man.”
AS, the publication Félix Díaz runs, has its headquarters in Madrid and is often associated with its coverage of Real Madrid above and beyond Barcelona. Félix Díaz also interviewed Mbappé shortly before Ballon d’Or voting closed.
Nasraoui’s insistence on international camaraderie is an intriguing point in what can turn into a popularity contest. Mbappé claimed top spot in France’s vote, as did Kane when it came to England, Lionel Messi in Argentina, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in Georgia and even Achraf Hakimi in Morocco.
Yamal was voted first by 13 different judges, but much to the frustration of his father, couldn’t win over his compatriot.
Félix Díaz explained his thought process behind prioritizing Mbappé above Yamal revoled around a consideration of the season in its entirety. “Top scorer in the league, top scorer in the Champions League, top scorer in the World Cup, top scorer of the World Cup,” the AS director rattled off on the publication’s YouTube channel.
“He led France to the semifinals until they met Spain. I believe that, despite his ups and downs, he was the player who performed at the highest and most consistent level throughout the entire campaign. Real Madrid didn’t provide him with the necessary support.”
“I think for Lamine, the World Cup isn’t exactly his best moment; he doesn’t reach the final part of the season in his best form,” the director added. “I don’t think Lamine was more decisive in the World Cup than other Spanish players, right? I think Spain won as a unit and didn’t win because of Lamine.”
Félix Díaz claimed that he would have voted for Yamal ahead of Mbappé had this season’s performances been taken into account, but consideration concluded after the World Cup final in July. “We analyze what was done in the previous campaign,” Félix Díaz explained, “and for me, personally, Mbappé was above Lamine.”
This was not an entirely unique viewpoint. Mbappé received 23 first-place votes compared to Yamal’s 13 and was a distant 146 points clear of the Barcelona forward while trailing Kane by just 28.
Yet, Nasraoui’s point of international favoring is nothing new. Years after losing out to Manchester United’s Sir Bobby Charlton in the 1966 Ballon d’Or by a single point, Portuguese icon Eusébio was still rankled by the vote of his home judge.
“The vote was from a Portuguese journalist, [Fernando] Couto e Santos, from Mundo Desportivo,” the former Benfica forward seethed. “He voted for Bobby Charlton in first place, me in second.”
Eusébio sought out Couto e Santos. “He always told me he voted for Charlton because he thought I would win easily,” the striker recalled. “How could anyone think that in a secret ballot? And what could I do with him? Nothing, right? I just asked him, and he answered me this way. If he voted, I’d be the first player to win the Ballon d’Or twice in a row.”
Yamal, and his father, can at least take solace from the fact that Félix Díaz’s vote would not have moved the dial.
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