Lamine Yamal, third in Ballon d'Or voting: "Good things take time"

Third year running, third Kopa Trophy. Lamine Yamal has gotten used to walking up on that stage, though this time he was left wanting something bigger. The FC Barcelona winger finished third in the final 2026 Ballon d'Or rankings, and rather than hide his disappointment, he chose to share it in his own way: with patience and his eyes fixed on what's ahead.

The Catalan, who now wears the number 10 shirt, posted a message on his Instagram account making clear he has no intention of forcing anything. "IT WILL COME. Good things take time, I trust the path I'm building. No rush, with excitement and the peace of mind that my moment will arrive someday," he wrote. He didn't stop there, also sparing a word for those who did take home the award that night. "Congratulations to the winners, my focus is back on what matters: getting FC Barcelona winning again," he added.

IT WILL COME. Good things take time, I trust the path I'm building. No rush, with excitement and the peace of mind that my moment will arrive somedayLamine Yamal

The Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best young player in world soccer, is nearly becoming a habit for him: he picked it up for the third year in a row at Monday's ceremony. But the number that truly stands out is a different one. Yamal has now spent three straight seasons inside the Ballon d'Or top 10 before even turning 20: eighth in 2024, second in 2025 and now third in 2026. No player so young has ever sustained that kind of consistency on the list.

Support quickly poured in from the locker room, past and present. Teammates such as Iñigo Martínez, Gavi, Fermín López, Ronald Araújo, Alejandro Balde and Sergi Roberto showed their support once the result came out, a sign that his year did not go unnoticed inside the club, even if the top prize has eluded him once again.

The season that just wrapped up was no small thing. Yamal was a key piece in Barcelona's La Liga title, with the team also reaching the Copa del Rey semifinals and the Champions League quarterfinals, though in both cases the team that eliminated them was the same: Atletico Madrid. On top of that comes what he experienced with the Spain national team: he was part of the squad that was crowned champion of the 2026 World Cup and started in the final against Argentina.

With that résumé on the table, it's no surprise the player himself talks about a "path" rather than a finished goal. The Ballon d'Or still slips through his fingers, yes, but the picture from the last three years shows the gap keeps getting smaller.