Why did Yamal not win the Ballon d'Or this year? The editor-in-chief of France Football, the organizing magazine, Vincent Garcia, has now provided a rather striking explanation. It appears that Spain's World Cup winners split votes among themselves.
"If you analyze the votes, you'll find a split among Spain's World Cup winners between Rodri and Yamal," Garcia told L'Équipe. His point is clear: "Rodri took votes away from Yamal in this ballot."
The exceptional performances of both players this season also became a disadvantage. Spain's performance at the World Cup was a ruthless team effort, with no single player standing out above the rest.
"Spain's votes were quite scattered," Garcia explained. "The Spain national team is a unified whole, an amazing collective machine. Therefore, it was almost impossible for the jury to single out a particular individual performance and prioritize it."
Yamal's individual performance at the World Cup also played a role. The Barcelona star began the tournament with an injury and ultimately scored only one goal during the title run. Clearly, this was not enough to give the jury sufficient reason for a personal coronation.