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Lamine Yamal's father, Mounir Nasraoui, has labeled Spain's judge for this year's Ballon d'Or a Kylian Mbappé "fanboy" and questioned why he failed to cast his vote for one of his fellow countrymen, including the Barcelona star.
Yamal placed third at last week's ceremony in London, finishing behind Real Madrid's Mbappé and Bayern Munich's Harry Kane, who claimed the top prize. The sport's most coveted individual honor has long been a target for the young star. Before placing second at the previous year's event, Yamal famously declared: "I told my friends, I don't dream about winning a Ballon d'Or, I dream about winning many."
Yet, for the second consecutive season, the teenage phenom was left standing on a lower step of the podium, gazing up at the top position.
The Ballon d'Or voting process can be an unpredictable affair. The award is determined by a panel of 100 journalists representing the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations at the time of assessment. Spain's judge for 2026 was José Félix Díaz, the well-regarded director of Diario AS, who has now drawn the wrath of Yamal's father.
Lamine Yamal's Ballon d'Or Vote Breakdown
Lamine Yamal walked into hell and made it magical. pic.twitter.com/kpjJwnSlWM
"I'd love for you to put one of those people who voted for Mbappé on screen one day; I'd really like to speak with him. You're a 'Mbappé-fanboy' too, mate," Nasraoui vented during an interview with well-known Barcelona supporter and online personality Jota Jordi.
"This only happens here in Spain," Yamal's father went on when reflecting on Félix Díaz's decision not to vote for a Spanish player. "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 club. We're in the 21st century, man."
AS, the outlet Félix Díaz oversees, is based in Madrid and is widely known for its extensive coverage of Real Madrid over Barcelona. Félix Díaz also sat down with Mbappé for an interview shortly before the Ballon d'Or voting window closed.
Nasraoui's emphasis on national solidarity raises an interesting point in what can devolve into a popularity contest. Mbappé topped France's vote, just as Kane did for England, Lionel Messi for Argentina, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for Georgia, and even Achraf Hakimi for Morocco.
Yamal earned first-place votes from 13 different judges, but to his father's frustration, was unable to win over his own compatriot.
Every Nation Which Voted Lamine Yamal as the Best Player in the World
Why Spain's Judge Ranked Mbappe Above Yamal
Félix Díaz outlined his reasoning for placing Mbappé ahead of Yamal, citing an evaluation of the full season. "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 listed on the publication's YouTube channel.
"He guided France to the semifinals until they ran into Spain. I believe that, despite his inconsistencies, he was the player who performed at the highest and most sustained level throughout the entire campaign. Real Madrid didn't give him the support he needed."
"I think for Lamine, the World Cup isn't exactly his finest moment; he doesn't arrive at the latter stages of the season in peak form," the director continued. "I don't think Lamine was more decisive in the World Cup than other Spanish players, right? I think Spain won as a collective and didn't win because of Lamine."
Félix Díaz acknowledged he would have ranked Yamal above Mbappé had this season's displays been factored in, but the assessment period concluded after the World Cup final in July. "We analyze what was done in the previous campaign," Félix Díaz stated, "and for me, personally, Mbappé was above Lamine."
Spain's José Félix Díaz's Ballon d'Or Top 10
This was not an entirely isolated perspective. Mbappé received 23 first-place votes compared to Yamal's 13 and finished a commanding 146 points ahead of the Barcelona forward, while sitting just 28 points behind Kane.
Nasraoui's grievance over national favoritism is nothing new. Decades after narrowly losing the 1966 Ballon d'Or to Manchester United's Sir Bobby Charlton by a single point, Portuguese legend Eusébio remained bitter about his own country's judge's decision.
"The vote was from a Portuguese journalist, [Fernando] Couto e Santos, from Mundo Desportivo," the former Benfica striker fumed. "He voted for Bobby Charlton in first place, me in second."
Eusébio eventually confronted Couto e Santos. "He always told me he voted for Charlton because he thought I would win easily," the forward 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 for me, I'd have been the first player to win the Ballon d'Or back-to-back."
Yamal and his father can at least find some comfort in knowing that Félix Díaz's vote would not have changed the final outcome.