In the days before the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony in London, Neymar has added his voice to an unusually open race by backing Barcelona and Spain forward Lamine Yamal as the world’s best player.
Key takeaways
- Neymar chose Lamine Yamal rather than former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi.
- The Santos winger made his view clear in an Instagram post featuring Yamal’s seasonal numbers.
- Yamal has recorded eight goals and nine assists across 10 matches this season.
- Neymar wrote “The best in the world” while tagging the Barcelona player.
- Yamal has repeatedly described Neymar as his footballing idol and reference point.
A vote from Santos for Barcelona’s young star
The Ballon d’Or debate has gathered pace ahead of the London presentation, with no single contender separating himself decisively from the rest. Kylian Mbappé, Yamal, Rodri, Fabián Ruiz, Messi and Harry Kane are among the names being discussed for the individual prize.
Neymar, now playing for Santos in Brazil, has offered a clear preference. Although he shared a Barcelona dressing room with Messi, the Brazilian has placed Yamal at the front of his own personal ballot.
His endorsement arrived through a post comparing Yamal’s current output with Neymar’s numbers from 2017-18, his first season at Paris Saint-Germain and the most influential campaign of his time in France. The comparison listed Neymar’s 25 goals and 16 assists in 27 appearances, alongside Yamal’s eight goals and nine assists from 10 games this term.
An admiration shared in both directions
Neymar accompanied the statistical graphic by tagging Yamal and declaring him “The best in the world”. It is a notable message for a Barcelona teenager whose rise has been watched across the continent and beyond.
The admiration is not one-sided. Yamal has spoken on several occasions of Neymar as the player he looked up to most, making the Santos forward’s public backing particularly meaningful as the Ballon d’Or decision approaches.
