Bixente Lizarazu says PSG's Fabian Ruiz deserves the Ballon d'Or over Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal. World Cup and Champions League double decided it.
The race for the 2026 Ballon d'Or is still uncertain. However, for Bixente Lizarazu, Fabian Ruiz deserves to win the trophy far more than Lamine Yamal or Kylian Mbappe.
Who will succeed Ousmane Dembele in the prestigious Ballon d'Or list? With a year marked by Spain's World Cup victory and PSG's successful back-to-back, the choice for the journalists who vote for this trophy will not be simple on Oct. 26 in London.
On Sunday on Telefoot, Bixente Lizarazu gave his opinion on this subject, and for the 1998 World Cup winner, there is no doubt. Neither Kylian Mbappe, who won nothing, nor Lamine Yamal, a world champion but very far behind Barcelona in the Champions League, deserve to lift the Ballon d'Or.
For Bixente Lizarazu, Fabian Ruiz, the midfielder for the Spain national team and PSG, deserves the Ballon d'Or because he won all the titles with their club and national team in 2026.
Even if he concedes that Ruiz is not as "sexy" a player as Mbappe and Yamal, the TF1 pundit recalls the very essence of the Ballon d'Or.
"Winning the Champions League and the World Cup is already exceptional; he is the only one who has done it. Fabian Ruiz is a player who is not spectacular, but who is very, very effective and extremely complete."
"When you watch him play, your eyes don't light up like with Lamine Yamal or Kylian Mbappe, for example, but I think you absolutely have to value titles. You cannot give the Ballon d'Or to someone who won nothing during the season. So the fact that he has achieved this double, for me, he will be part of the top three, for example, but I would not be shocked if he won the Ballon d'Or as Rodri did," Bixente Lizarazu said.
Last season, after Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League victory, Fabian Ruiz finished 24th in the Ballon d'Or, which Ousmane Dembele won that year. It remains to be seen whether the votes for PSG players will be split and ultimately benefit a player from another club.
In other news, no PSG players were spotted at UFC Paris after Friday's Monaco loss. This is particularly good news as the team focuses on its Champions League debut vs Slovan Bratislava.
In September 2023, a minor controversy arose during an evening of the same type. After a truly unglamorous draw at Clermont on Saturday, a large part of the Parisian squad was in the front row a few hours later to attend the PFL evening. Kylian Mbappe, Achraf Hakimi, Ousmane Dembele, Lucas Hernandez and Nordi Mukiele were thus found in the front row to attend Cedric Doumbe's fight. While this outing drew plenty of attention, it was less talked about than the rout at Newcastle four days later (1-4).
