Is the Ballon d’Or still about the best season—or the best narrative? In this deep-dive, we unpack how elite seasons get snubbed and why Raphinha’s treble-winning, 34G/25A year under Hansi Flick could be overlooked the way Vinícius Júnior was—thanks to shifting criteria, country bias, and vote-splitting with stars like Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembélé. We revisit past “robberies” (Sneijder 2010, Lewandowski 2020), compare club vs. country weight, and show how media hype shapes ballots more than goals, assists, and clutch UCL moments.
What you’ll learn
• How Ballon d’Or criteria quietly change year to year
• Why “fair play” image & narratives sway voters
• The vote-splitting trap inside superteams (Barça & Madrid)
• Raphinha vs. Yamal vs. Dembélé vs. Mbappé—who actually had the best season?
Chime in: Who should win based on this season alone—and why?
#Raphinha #BallondOr #Barcelona #Barça #HansiFlick #LamineYamal #Dembele #ViniciusJr #Mbappe #RealMadrid #LaLiga #UCL #ChampionsLeague #Football #Soccer #FCBarcelona #Culers #Tactics #Analytics #FutbolHistoria
32 Comments
Who truly deserves the Ballon d’Or this season? 🔥
Quick vote in the comments:
🟩 Raphinha • 🟦 Dembélé • 🟨 Lamine Yamal • 🟥 Someone else (who & why?)
But Rodri had international success with Spain .. Factors are true.. Mostly splitting the votes may affect his chances..
What about what he did for Spain
Vini threw a tantrum
This one is not even close dembele deserves to win it
knowing the france federation they are going to give it to lamine because of pr
Raphinha won only the Domestic trophy nothing special, Dembele won the Quadruple and even played in FIFA CWC final. Barca didn't even qualify for the FIFA CWC
isnt this the same channel that said rodri deserved the ballon dor LMAO
It’s dembele or vitinha who deserve ballondor how come this barca player are in top 23 4 ranking such an self obsessed cup won only Laliga and a team competed treble there is difference
Raphinha Don't Deserve Anymore
1:40 Those are not ballon d'or level numbers.
Ronaldo's 40 & 50 goals
Messi's 91 goal in a calender year is
This is a PR award
No one cares about it
Individual trophies in team sport is worthless
Raphina has no one to blame but his own club's fan base jaja
🔴🔴🔴 mbappe will win it mark my words When he wins it you will all not think I’m stupid 😊
10:19 more like whoever gets the most votes and whoever gets them the most money
Crynicius was and is trash
uh… hello? does Mohamed Salah play fairy football?
Look at this Barca fan brainwashing his viewers into thinking Raphina deserves it😂It was decided on may 31st 2025 simple as that
It should be Dembele vs Raphinha, I don’t know why Barca are rooting for Yamal 😂😂
Ballon d'Or doesn't deserve raphinha
Weird how Raphinha went down in Ballon d'Or rankings as soon as Barcelona got knocked out of the champions league, but Yamal who plays for the same club somehow gets a free pass and goes up in the rankings. Double standards
I am a yamal glazer, but Rapha deserves it more than anyone else
Actually Rodri or Haaland deserved 2023 Balon Dor bcz they performed the best & Messi was no way near them.
2010 Balon Dor wasn't controversial bcz Messi was truly Godly type & Iniesta would come into picture if you bring Sneider but we know Messi was better than them.
It’s lost it credibility tbh when Ronaldo said this I trolled him buh now I agree
Vini doesn't deserve the ballon D'or
Rodri won the euros which you conveniently didn’t mention. Not everything is about UCL
Raphinha was impactful for Brazil, he literally scored 2 penalties and 2 free kick goals during the international breaks
dembele won and raphinha wasn’t even top 4
💔
And they put him 5th…. Seriously
Yamal PR ate Raphinha's confidence. But man is a mentality monster and I will always respect him.
Yep Salah and Raphinha not even top 3