🍔 TikToks & comfort eating?! Yamal's reaction to his Ballon d'Or defeat

Quite a few observers gave Spain's young star Lamine Yamal a serious chance of winning the 2026 Ballon d'Or. Since last night, though, one thing is clear: he has not (yet) done enough to claim football's most prestigious prize, with both winner Harry Kane and runner-up Kylian Mbappé finishing ahead of him.

While the 19-year-old still looked a little dejected at the ceremony itself after being named “only” the world's best young player for the third year running, his mood seemed to improve as the evening went on.

Videos and photos on ‘X’ and ‘TikTok’ showed just that.

His little brother did not seem particularly impressed with the event either.

But as the night wore on, his mood seemed to improve. After the ceremony, he posted a video on ‘TikTok’ with his girlfriend, Inés García Santos.

Perhaps an upcoming visit to a fast-food giant also had something to do with his improved mood.

France Football chief Vincent Garcia offered a theory yesterday as to why Yamal finished only third. Speaking to the newspaper ‘L’Équipe’, he said the votes for the Spanish nominees had been “somewhat split”. Last year's winner Rodri finished fourth.

The Spaniards' strong showing may therefore have cost Yamal crucial votes. “I think Rodri took votes away from Lamine in this year's voting,” Garcia said.

Kylian Mbappé, incidentally, also seemed to take his defeat to Harry Kane pretty well in the end. As he left the event via the red carpet, a camera caught him playing a round of rock-paper-scissors.

By the end of Ballon d'Or night, then, all the superstars seemed to be back in high spirits.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 Gareth Cattermole - 2026 Getty Images