Lamine Yamal finished third in the Ballon d’Or behind Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane, then used Instagram to say his time will come. The Barcelona forward also won his third successive Kopa Trophy in London, and the response was as much about patience as disappointment. He is 19 years old, and his message was aimed straight back at the club.
The message on Instagram
The clearest line came in two parts. Yamal wrote, “IT WILL COME”, before adding, “Good things take time, I trust the path I’m building. Without a hurry, with excitement and with tranquility that someday my time will come.” He finished by congratulating the winners and saying his focus was again on “what’s important, to make FC Barcelona win again.”
That is a strong public reset after a night that ended with the individual prize going elsewhere. It also fits the way his season has gone. Yamal has 20 goal involvements in 13 Barcelona outings this season, with 8 goals and 6 assists in league play.
Why the Ballon d’Or talk has not gone away
Even without the top prize, Yamal left London with his third straight Kopa Trophy, which keeps him at the centre of the next Ballon d’Or conversation anyway. The broader case around him is not hard to make when a 19-year-old is producing at that rate for Barcelona and still has room to grow into the award race.
The debate around the exact finishing order behind Mbappé and Kane has been treated differently by the reporting around the gala, but the one constant is Yamal’s place in it. He finished third, won the Kopa Trophy again, and then moved the focus back to Barcelona rather than staying inside the disappointment.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
