Article body analysed
By LUKE POWER, SPORTS REPORTER Published: 02: 00 AEST, 23 September 2025 | Updated: 02: 28 AEST, 23 September 2025 4 View comments Lamine Yamal has reportedly prepared a party fit for a prince as he banks on winning the Ballon d'Or tonight. The Barcelona star, 18, is said to have booked out a snazzy space in Paris to host a mighty Ballon d'Or bash with his near and dear. He is one of the favourites for football's top gong alongside Ousmane Dembele, Mohamed Salah, Raphinha, and Vitinha. And he is expected to rock up at the Theatre du Chatelet with an entourage of 20 people, mostly family members, all decked out in Dolce & Gabbana gear, according to Mundo Deportivo via be IN Sports. His father, Mounir Nasraoui, reportedly arrived early to make sure that every aspect of the party is on point for his precocious son. Yamal could become the youngest Ballon d'Or winner ever, smashing the record held by Ronaldo Nazario, who claimed the prize at 21 in 1997. Lamine Yamal has reportedly prepared a party at an exclusive Parisian venue in case he wins the Ballon d'Or Yamal, who won the Kopa Trophy for the best under-21s player last year, is bringing an entourage of 20 decked out in Dolce & Gabbana gear The favourite to win football's top prize is Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand, and Ronaldinho, who will present the prize, are just some of the bejeweled names to heap praise on the Spanish youngster. And he certainly has a strong case after a shining 2024-25 season which saw him score 18 goals and notch 25 assists, helping Barca to a domestic treble. It is testament to his mental resilience as on the eve of the La Liga season last year, his father was left fighting for his life in hospital after being stabbed mutliple times while walking his dog. But Yamal and his family have overcome that tragedy to write one of football's most exciting stories and his performances against Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals, which Barcelona ultimately lost in dramatic fashion, showed his audacious talent and maturity on the game's biggest stages. However, he faces stiff competition from Dembele, 28, who unexpectedly produced the best season of his career to fire Paris Saint-Germain to their first Champions League title and a domestic treble. Seemingly out of nowhere, Dembele scored 35 goals and set up a further 16 - almost as many goal contributions as his previous three seasons combined. In a remarkable spree between December and March, the Frenchman smashed in 24 goals and bolstered his case for the Ballon d'Or. Salah, while not the favourite, is also in the reckoning after having a better individual season than Dembele with 34 goals and 23 assists. Mohamed Salah is in the running after leading Liverpool to their second Premier League title Yamal has many years to earn football's top prize if he does not achieve his dream tonight In a phenomenal campaign the 33-year-old broke 11 records, including registering a record 47 goal contributions (29 goals, 18 assists) in a Premier League season. While he won the Premier League, his case might fall short due to the fact that Liverpool were knocked out of the last 16 in the Champions League and won neither the FA Cup nor the Carabao Cup. Vincent Garcia, France Football's editor-in-chief and reputedly the only man who knows who the winner is, explained that a melange of individual and team brilliance is significant. 'I'm the only one who knows the Ballon d'Or winner, " he told Telefoot. 'The criteria to win this award are clear: individual brilliance, decisive and unforgettable performances, trophies lifted, plus fair play and conduct on and off the pitch. ' An international jury of journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries determines the winner by vote. Yamal dreams of winning 'many' Ballons d'Or, but he has a mountain to climb to achieve Lionel Messi's tally of eight, or even Cristiano Ronaldo's sum of five.
Share what you think
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mail Online.
By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on Mail Online. To do this we will link your Mail Online account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy. Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd