Luis de la Fuente Calls for Ballon d'Or to Return to Spain
Luis de la Fuente is done with polite whispers. With the Ballon d'Or gala looming on October 26, the Spain coach has stepped into the spotlight and made his stance unmistakably clear: this year, the golden ball should be coming home to Spain.
In a forthright appearance on El Larguero, De la Fuente cut through the usual diplomatic noise around individual awards. Spain have 26 nominees across the different categories, yet the main prize has kept its distance from Spanish hands for too long in his eyes. That, he argued, no longer reflects the reality on the pitch.
“I think it has to be won by a Spaniard, because they are the best in the world in many aspects, including their understanding of the game. The Spanish footballer is an almost, almost perfect player,” he said, before stressing that his players “have made more than enough merits this year” and still struggle to receive full recognition.
For De la Fuente, this is not about sentiment. It is about a footballing profile he believes the rest of the world has started to take for granted: tactically sharp, technically immaculate, relentlessly intelligent. Spain’s collective success, he insisted, should weigh heavily when the votes are cast.
Lamine Yamal, Mbappé and a new era
One name has cut through the noise of this awards season like few others: Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona teenager has already dared to place himself in the same bracket as Kylian Mbappé, and that kind of self-assurance tends to split opinion.
De la Fuente, though, had no interest in toning the youngster down.
“I think you have to see in what context it is said,” he argued. “And I think Lamine says it simply because he has made enough merits, just like Mbappe. They are two players with a different touch and who, in the coming years, respecting others, will mark football. It does not seem like a lack of respect to me that they say they have made merits to win it.”
In other words, this is not empty bravado. In the Spain coach’s eyes, Yamal and Mbappé are not just the faces of the present, but the pillars on which the next decade of elite football will rest. Confidence, at that level, is not a luxury. It is a requirement.
Forgotten pillars: Fabian, Oyarzabal, Pedri
While the global conversation gravitates towards Mbappé and Yamal, De la Fuente bristled at how easily other key figures in his squad slip out of the narrative. One name in particular bothers him: Fabian Ruiz.
The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder has become a quiet constant for Spain, a player who stitches games together, dictates rhythm and rarely dips below an elite standard. Yet his profile, internationally, does not match his influence.
Asked to choose between Rodri and Lamine Yamal for the Ballon d'Or, De la Fuente swerved the obvious debate and went straight to the blind spot.
“And Fabian, whom we always forget about,” he replied. It was not a throwaway line. It was a reminder.
He then widened the lens. “The other day I said that I missed Mikel Oyarzabal, who at the very least should be among the 30, to recognize the talent of a fantastic footballer and who has been the top scorer for the world champion national team.”
That omission, in his view, speaks to a broader undervaluing of Spain’s core. The same goes for Pedri, another glaring absence from the shortlist.
“Those things at the moment must be put in value, regardless of whether they later win it or not. I am also surprised that Pedri is not there, but of those who are, I do not bet on any one of them. Whoever wins it, of the Spanish footballers, I will be very happy.”
No hedging. No lobbying for a single name. Just a clear demand that the collective brilliance of his group is treated as something more than background noise to the star-driven narrative.
A goalkeeping factory at the top of the world
If there is one area where Spain’s dominance is becoming impossible to ignore, it is in goal. All three of De la Fuente’s World Cup goalkeepers — Unai Simón, David Raya and Joan García — have been nominated for the positional award.
For the Spain coach, that is not a coincidence. It is confirmation.
“Let’s bet on what is ours and value it,” he urged. “I believe that the Ballon d'Or should be won by a Spaniard, of course. In the same way that, in the trophy for goalkeepers, it is a privilege that we have the three goalkeepers from the World Cup nominated. And we have always said that among the five best goalkeepers in the world there are always three Spaniards, at the very least.”
Three keepers, one nation, all in the conversation for the top prize in their position. It is a statistic that underlines his wider point: Spain are not just producing one-off stars. They are churning out excellence across the pitch.
As October 26 approaches, the campaign from the Spain camp is no longer subtle. De la Fuente has drawn the line. In his mind, this Ballon d'Or should not just reward a season. It should acknowledge an era — and the Spanish footballer, he insists, sits right at the heart of it.
