Barcelona superstar still has a chance to beat Ronaldo Nazario’s record in Ballon d’Or | OneFootball

Despite an extraordinary 2024/25 campaign for both club and country, Lamine Yamal missed out on the Ballon d’Or last night, with Ousmane Dembele becoming the first French since Karim Benzema in 2022 to win the coveted trophy.

Yamal finished second in the final ranking, with PSG’s Vitinha finishing third. Yamal’s Barcelona teammate Raphinha finished fifth in the rankings while Pedri finished 11th, much to the disappointment of Aitana Bonmati.

If Yamal had finished first, he would have made history by becoming the youngest player to ever win the Ballon d’Or, thus breaking the record currently held by none other than Ronaldo Nazario.

Yamal still has a chance to break Ronaldo’s record

However, it’s not the end of the world yet for Yamal, who still has a few opportunities to break Ronaldo’s record.

The Spaniard, after all, is still 18 and has at least two more shots at the Ballon d’Or title, as he looks to break Ronaldo’s milestone of winning the coveted trophy at the age of just 21.

Can Yamal beat Ronaldo’s record in the next two years? (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

The Brazilian won the Ballon d’Or in 1997, the same year he left Barcelona in favour of a move to Inter Milan. The forward had featured in less than 50 matches for the Catalans and eventually joined arch-rival Real Madrid in 2002.

Yamal, in contrast, has already featured in over 100 matches for Barça at the age of just 18 and is considered one of the best wingers in the world.

Given his age, Yamal can still break the record of Ronaldo if he can win the Ballon d’Or next year. In fact, he can still break the record by winning it in 2027.

That means the Spanish international has two more seasons to break one of the most elusive records in world football.