Luis Figo's surprising Ballon d'Or choice — Mbappe, Kane and a super final

One of world football's brightest legends, former Barcelona and Real Madrid star and former Portugal national team captain Luis Figo participated in a blitz survey dedicated to determining the winner of world football's most prestigious individual award — the Ballon d'Or. In an interesting selection held in a "play-off" format, Figo pitted modern and classic football stars against each other.

In the early stages, he preferred Lionel Messi to Ousmane Dembele, Harry Kane to Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal to Rodri, and Kylian Mbappe to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. In the semi-finals, while Messi defeated Kane, in a fierce confrontation the Portuguese star chose Yamal instead of Mbappe. In the decisive final, when 8-time award winner Lionel Messi and Barcelona's young wunderkind Lamine Yamal clashed, Figo surprised the football community with his choice: "Let's give it to Lamine, because Messi has too many of these trophies," the legend concluded.

"Yamal's final triumph, Kane's superiority and the Messi factor": 5 main points of Figo's selection

The most important facts from Luis Figo's answers regarding the Ballon d'Or:

• Final winner — Lamine Yamal: The legendary footballer deemed Barcelona's young talent worthy of the main prize;

• The Messi collection factor: The reason Yamal rather than Messi was chosen in the final was indicated as Leo having an excessive number of these trophies;

• Talent superior to Mbappe: In the hardest pairing of the semi-finals, Figo opted for Yamal instead of Mbappe;

• Kane outshined Haaland: Between Europe's two major goalscorers, the Portuguese veteran chose Harry Kane;

• Rodri and Dembele left out: Spanish holding midfielder Rodri lost to Yamal, and Frenchman Dembele lost to Messi.

"Ballon d'Or" tournament bracket: Luis Figo's selection stages table

Classification of the stage-by-stage selection among stars in the blitz survey:

Football expertise: Why did Figo choose Yamal instead of Messi?

Conclusions of international sports analysts and football commentators:

• "The need for a new generation and symbolic baton pass": The era of Messi and Ronaldo is gradually becoming history, and phenomenal youngsters like Lamine Yamal are stepping onto the football stage; Figo's opinion reflects the strong eagerness of the modern football community to see new heroes;

• "The Barcelona winger's impact on the game": Being able to play first fiddle at just 17-18 years old in the European Championship and continental-scale super matches, Yamal's creativity amazes not only fans but also former Ballon d'Or winners like Figo;

• "Competition with Mbappe": Lamine being chosen over Kylian Mbappe in the semi-final serves as a serious signal for the France national team leader, indicating that Yamal's media and sporting appeal is currently higher.

How fair do you think Luis Figo's proposal to award the Ballon d'Or to Lamine Yamal instead of Lionel Messi is? Is Yamal really stronger than Mbappe and other stars at the present time? Leave your personal thoughts in the comments and share this interesting analysis of the football world with all enthusiasts!