Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic has given his opinion on the candidate most deserving of the 2026 Ballon d'Or.
Thierry Henry left him out of his own top two. Ibrahimovic, though, named Barcelona's Lamine Yamal as the man worthy of the 2026 Ballon d'Or.
The 19-year-old sits among the frontrunners for what many regard as football's most important individual prize, having dazzled for both Barcelona and Spain last season.
Yamal won the La Liga title and the World Cup. He also collected the award for best player in La Liga this year.
Second in last year's vote, the youngster ran an electoral campaign of his own ahead of this one. He laid out his case across a series of interviews last month, saying: "There have been great stars in football, like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Maradona... but no one has achieved this much so early."
"There was the example of Pele, but no one has done it recently," he added.
Asked for his Ballon d'Or pick during a quick-fire round with ESPN at the FC 27 launch event in New York, the former Barcelona striker fired back one word: "Yamal".
Henry went the other way, backing Yamal's rival, Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe.
Ibrahimovic's Fox Sports colleague said earlier this month: "It's Kylian Mbappe. Yes, some will tell me he hasn't won anything. I think that has happened in the history of the award before, some people should look into this matter."
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He added: "But for me, it's Kylian. When you see what he has achieved on an individual level... the top scorer of the Champions League, the top scorer of La Liga, and the top scorer of the World Cup too. Michael Olise has the same achievement in terms of creating goals."
Henry added: "I just wanted to make clear that there are many candidates, and they are not ordinary candidates, in all fairness. But personally I would choose Mbappe. And Michael Olise is close to him."
The Portuguese.