Battle of Ballon d’Or favourites – Yamal v Dembele in Nations League
Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele met in last season’s Champions League, with PSG winning their quarter-final tie on aggregate
Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport journalist
Ousmane Dembele and Lamine Yamal, the two favourites for the Ballon d’Or, go head to head in Thursday’s Nations League semi-final.
Dembele’s France and Yamal’s Spain meet in Stuttgart (20:00 BST) for a place in Sunday’s final against Portugal – after the conclusion of remarkable domestic seasons for both.
As well as impressing for their clubs, both netted in their country’s respective Nations League quarter-final victories.
Yamal played down any suggestion this match would have an impact in the Ballon d’Or decision – with the winner announced on 22 September in Paris.
“If you were voting for the Ballon d’Or, would you choose the best player of the year, or the one who wins the match on Thursday?” the 17-year-old told El Partidazo de COPE.
“Whether we win or not, I would vote for the best player of the year.
“I’m not thinking about the trophy or whether I’m going to win. You’ll do badly if you think you have to win it. What I do is play and try to win.”
BBC Sport compares their stats and looks at the seasons that two of the most exciting forwards in world football have just completed.
How the stats compare for 2024-25
Paris St-Germain forward Dembele is well clear of Barcelona winger Yamal for goals (33 v 18) but the Spaniard beats his French rival for assists (21 v 13).
Across all competitions, Yamal, despite being 11 years younger, played significantly more than Dembele this season – 4,548 to 3,286 minutes – and in a tougher league in terms of the general level of competition.
Yamal has taken more shots overall (but fewer per 90 minutes) while Dembele’s conversion rate is much higher.
And Yamal ranks much higher for dribbles than Dembele, with a higher success rate on them too.
The Spaniard has won possession more times, tackled more and won more duels than the Frenchman.
In terms of trophies, both won their domestic double, plus their Community Shield equivalents – and Dembele lifted the Champions League.
Dembele’s career revival
Dembele “best player in the world”
Dembele delivering the season he has had would have been unthinkable even seven months ago, and winning the Ballon d’Or would complete one of football’s greatest revivals.
This season has already resulted in the 28-year-old being named the Champions League’s player of the season and the Ligue 1 Golden Boot winner.
His career looked destined to be one of of unfulfilled potential, and he has admitted himself for years he lacked professionalism. He once cost Barcelona a fee of 96.8m, potentially rising to 135.5m.
But before this season he had only managed double figures for goals in a league campaign once, his first in senior football for Rennes (12 goals in 2015-16).
Maybe he was best known in England for missing the chance to put Barca 4-0 up in their 2019 Champions League semi-final, with the Reds going on to win 4-3 on aggregate.
Even approaching the halfway point of the season, he was only having a fairly average one by his standards – with five goals before playing Lyon on 15 December.
But everything changed that day as Luis Enrique moved him from his more accustomed right-wing berth to play him at centre forward – and he netted in a 3-1 win.
That was part of a run of 18 goals in 10 games. After that he chipped in goals at a regular rate.
Even with a return of one goal in his final 10 games of the season, he ended on 33 – with 21 in the league making him Ligue 1’s top scorer.
Dembele has also performed for his country, netting in Nations League wins over Belgium and Croatia – doubling his tally of competitive goals in a France shirt.
He also managed 13 assists for PSG, including two in the record-breaking 5-0 Champions League final win over Inter Milan.
“I would give the Ballon d’Or to Mr Ousmane Dembele,” PSG boss Luis Enrique said in Munich.
“The way he defended, just that alone could be worth the Ballon d’Or. That’s how you lead a team: goals, trophies, leadership, defence, his pressing.”
Unlike Yamal, Dembele still has the Fifa Club World Cup to play in this summer to cement his claims.
Yamal’s unprecedented campaign
Lamine Yamal – The Boy King
Yamal is achieving things few 17-year-olds have ever done before.
Before his 18th birthday – which he will celebrate on 13 July – he has already won the European Championship with Spain, La Liga, the Copa del Rey, plus a Spanish Super Cup while in the colours of Barca.
He has actually won two La Liga titles, as he played once as a 15-year-old in 2022-23.
But in the space of two years his influence has grown significantly as Yamal, who has already passed 100 appearances for Barcelona, scored 18 goals and made 25 assists in 55 games this season.
He was named in the Champions League team of the year after some remarkable displays – including in the thrilling semi-final defeat by Inter Milan.
“Lamine is the kind of talent that comes along every 50 years, and to see him up close really impressed me,” said opposition manager Simone Inzaghi.
“He caused us huge problems because we were supposed to double up on him and it wasn’t enough.”
It is not just the quantity of Yamal’s goals but the quality and big-game nature of them.
He netted three goals in four Clasicos against Real Madrid this season, plus a fantastic strike in that epic tie against Inter.
And he struck in the Nations League quarter-final against the Netherlands.
The CIES Football Observatory recently valued him at 400m euros (340m).
Yamal recently signed a new six-year deal with Barca, and BBC pundit Stephen Warnock called him “a future Ballon d’Or winner”.
Brazil legend Ronaldo is the youngest winner of the award at the age of 21 – so Yamal has three attempts to break that record.
