Spain coach Luis de la Fuente firmly believes Lamine Yamal will win many Ballon d’Or awards in his career.
The Barcelona teenage forward was considered among the leading contenders to lift the most prestigious individual prize but finished behind Real Madrid‘s Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane of Bayern Munich.
De la Fuente, who won the Ballon d’Or for men’s coach of the year on Monday after leading Spain to World Cup glory, told Cadena Cope after the ceremony: “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.”
A 2024 European Champion, Yamal, 19, has already won three LaLiga titles with Barça.
He had a strong 2025-26 campaign, with 25 goals and 20 assists in 57 appearances to help Barcelona defend the LaLiga title and win the Spanish Supercopa.
“He needs to be calm because we know who he is, what he represents,” De la Fuente said of Yamal, who was part of Spain’s World Cup winning squad.
“We know the potential he has, the great footballer he is and the great person he is.”
Yamal did not leave Monday’s event empty-handed with the Spain star receiving the Kopa Trophy for the third consecutive year.
The Kopa Trophy is handed to the best young performing player in the world under the age of 21.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta heaped praised on Yamal.
“What Lamine has done is unique,” Laporta told 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.”
