Overview
- The ballots released by France Football and L'Équipe on Tuesday showed Lionel Messi ranked Lamine Yamal first, Pau Cubarsí second, and Ibrahim Maza third.
- Under the Young Talent voting system each historic Ballon d'Or winner picks three players under 21 with 5 points for first, 3 for second and 1 for third.
- Those point values meant Messi's 5 points for Yamal and 3 for Cubarsí produced the 96–94 final score that handed Yamal the award.
- Ibrahim Maza received the only point awarded to him in the entire poll, and that single point came from Messi's third‑place pick.
- The published ballots underline how official transparency reveals that a single juror's choices can determine very close prizes and confirm Yamal's sustained peer recognition.