Ruud Gullit told Goal that Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal cannot win the Ballon d’Or this year, bluntly saying, "Yamal cannot win that [Ballon d’Or] this time anyway."
Gullit framed his argument around two concrete beats: Yamal has not played in the Champions League final this season and Paris Saint-Germain will feature in the Champions League final, putting PSG players in a stronger position for the award. "He has not been in the Champions League final," Gullit told Goal, and that absence, he said, changes the calculus for voters.
The numbers and names matter in Gullit’s shorthand. This year, he pointed to PSG’s two leading candidates. "So who else is in the Champions League final who comes close this year? [Ousmane] Dembele. He has already won it," Gullit said, and he singled out Vitinha as another standout: "For me, one of the best is Vitinha. He is the engine of PSG’s midfield and could be a fantastic player as well at the World Cup."
Gullit tied the Ballon d’Or race to club success and a looming international tournament. He told Goal that, because Barcelona did not reach the Champions League final this season, Yamal’s most viable route into genuine Ballon d’Or contention is through a major showing at the World Cup. "He needs to excel at the World Cup to be in contention for the Ballon d’Or," Gullit said.
The context is straightforward: in Gullit’s view, participation in the Champions League final this season is a decisive advantage in the Ballon d’Or conversation, and PSG’s presence there elevates Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha above players whose clubs fell short. That framing places Yamal’s individual chances not on domestic form or hype but on performance on the biggest international stage later this year.
The argument contains a tension that will be familiar to voters and fans. Yamal is a high-profile Barcelona winger, but Barcelona did not reach the Champions League final this season; Gullit keeps returning to that fact. If club finals weigh heavily in the Ballon d’Or reckoning, a player who missed that match is effectively asked to replace club-stage acclaim with World Cup heroics — a narrower, riskier path.
Gullit’s endorsement of PSG names also raises a different friction: his plain statement that Dembele "has already won it" and that Vitinha "is the engine of PSG’s midfield" reads like a forecast and a valuation rolled into one. By putting PSG’s pair on the shortlist, Gullit removes Yamal from the front rank unless the Barcelona winger can produce something unequivocal on the international stage.
That is the choice the season has left: according to Gullit, club success this season places PSG players in prime Ballon d’Or positions, and Lamine Yamal’s route is smaller and specific. The decisive moment, in Gullit’s view, will be the World Cup — he repeated that line to Goal and left the implication plain: Yamal "needs to excel at the World Cup to be in contention for the Ballon d’Or."
Gullit’s public judgment sharpens what comes next for readers and voters: with the Champions League final featuring PSG and not Barcelona, attention will pivot to international form, and the World Cup will be the stage that most clearly determines whether Yamal can overturn the advantage Gullit has placed with Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha.
