Ballon d'Or 2023: Yamal vs Rodri Debate Heats Up
The Ballon d'Or race has finally caught fire. Four names, one trophy, and a debate that refuses to cool down.
At the heart of it all: Lamine Yamal and Rodri.
Barcelona have thrown their full weight behind Yamal. The club see the teenager as their standard-bearer for the award and have not hidden it, pushing a clear PR drive to strengthen his case. For them, the story writes itself – a prodigious talent who has already collected major honours and looks like the face of the next era.
Yet inside the same dressing room sits another contender, one with a very different profile and a very different argument.
Tebas plants his flag
Javier Tebas has stepped firmly into the discussion and he has not chosen the fashionable pick. The La Liga president has gone public in his support of Rodri, and he based his stance on the biggest stage of all: the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
"With what Rodri has done in the World Cup, he deserves it again," Tebas said, as quoted by El Chiringuito.
It is a simple line, but it hits the core of the debate. Rodri was, by almost any measure, the outstanding performer in that tournament. Spain’s long-awaited return to the summit of world football, their first World Cup since 2010, ran straight through him.
He dictated games. He calmed storms. His leadership, composure and sheer authority in midfield turned Spain from hopefuls into champions. When the pressure rose, Rodri’s level rose with it. That is the kind of narrative Ballon d’Or voters have historically found hard to ignore.
The case against the champion
Yet the argument is not clean-cut.
Rodri’s problem lies away from the World Cup. His domestic season with Man City was heavily disrupted. Injuries kept him out for a large stretch of the campaign, limiting him to just 21 league appearances. City, without their usual dominance, finished the season without the Premier League title.
On the Ballon d’Or scorecard, that matters. When voters scan the year, Rodri’s club column looks thin. One glittering line – World Cup winner, best player in the tournament – and not much else.
Yamal, by contrast, can offer more breadth. He lifted La Liga with Barcelona and also ended the year as a world champion with Spain. His World Cup displays did not reach the individual heights of Rodri, Harry Kane or Kylian Mbappé, but his trophy haul is hard to ignore, especially for a player of his age.
So the ballot question becomes sharper: does a towering World Cup, almost flawless in impact, outweigh a lighter club season? Or does the combination of league success and global glory, even with less dominant performances, carry more weight?
Tebas has made his choice. Barcelona have made theirs. The rest of the football world now decides whether this Ballon d’Or belongs to the metronome who ran a World Cup, or the prodigy being fast-tracked into superstardom.
