Zlatan Ibrahimovic reveals his Ballon d’Or pick as new outright favourite emerges

With the Ballon d'Or race heating up, Ibrahimovic has named his winner.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes Barcelona and Spain forward Lamine Yamal, a player he previously described as "the best player in the world", should win this year's Ballon d'Or trophy.

Yamal, who finished second to Ousmane Dembele in last year's standings, is certainly one of the favourites to scoop the award alongside Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe.

In fact, the 19-year-old World Cup winner has leapfrogged Kane to become the new outright favourite, according to bookies William Hill. He was 6/5 earlier this week but is now the 8/15 frontrunner.

READ MORE: Harry Kane issues telling response to Lamine Yamal's Ballon d'Or claim after making Bundesliga history

Earlier this week, Yamal suggested the Ballon d’Or should recognise the players that "make you dream" rather than those who score the most goals.

"The Ballon d'Or is for the best player of the year, someone different, someone we have enjoyed watching, who has that magic, makes you smile and look forward to watching games just to see them play," he told L'Equipe.

"It's not to do with the sheer number of goals. When I think of the Ballon d'Or, I think of [Lionel] Messi, Ronaldinho… different players, players that make you dream."

With the ceremony taking place on October 26, the debate over who deserves to take home the award continues to divide opinion. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, has sided with the in-form Yamal.

Speaking to ESPN at the FC 27 launch in New York this week, Ibrahimovic named Yamal as his winner.

“He (Yamal) is the best player in the world," Ibrahimovic said back in June. "He’s a special player. Every time he gets the ball, he’s going to create something, no matter if he has two or three defenders in front of him."

READ MORE: Real Madrid's strategy to ensure Kylian Mbappé beats Harry Kane to Ballon d'Or revealed

Nobody has won more than one individual award at the same Ballon d'Or ceremony, but it is possible.

The nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or confirmed that two players – Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubasi – will be competing in two categories (Men's Ballon d'Or and the Kopa Trophy) simultaneously this year.

"This has never happened in the history of the award, but there is no rule preventing a player from winning more than one trophy," organisers said about the prospect of a player winning two trophies.

Topics: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ballon d'Or, Football

Jack Kenmare is a Senior Journalist at SPORTbible, covering a range of different sports, including football, darts and athletics. In his role at SPORTbible, Jack specialises in long-form feature writing, with some of his previous interviews featuring some of the biggest and most relevant names in sport. He graduated with a BA Hons (2:1) in Journalism and News Practice from Teesside University. He joined SPORTbible in 2015 to cover news and trending stories.

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