Fabian Ruiz Makes Ballon d'Or Case After World Cup and Champions League Success
Fabian Ruiz is not hiding. Not after this season.
World Cup winner with Spain. Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain. Three months out with a knee injury, yet still convinced he has done enough to sit at the Ballon d'Or table.
Speaking to L'Equipe, the PSG midfielder laid out his argument with striking clarity.
"In terms of titles, no one has had a better season than me. Individually, great players have had an excellent season. A World Cup with your country is the biggest title you can win."
It was not a throwaway line. It was a statement of intent from a player who believes that decisive moments, not just minutes played, should weigh heavily in the voting.
Ruiz knows the field is crowded. He namechecks Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s teenage phenomenon and one of the leading favourites for the award, as part of a new wave of competition. The Spain international is not blind to the hype around the 17-year-old, nor to the weight that attacking flair often carries in these debates.
But he keeps coming back to the same point: trophies and influence on the biggest stages.
His perspective has been shaped by experience. Last year, Ruiz finished 24th in the Ballon d'Or voting, a respectable placing but one that left him hungry for more. In an earlier interview with France Football, he reflected on that ranking and the reality of the race.
"Where do I see myself in the Ballon d'Or race? That comes down to the voters," he said. "The most important thing for me is to put myself at the disposal of the team, while at the same time striving to be among the best. I was fortunate to be among the list of thirty nominees last year. Being among the thirty is a great honour."
That humility sits alongside a growing conviction. Midfielders, he knows, often live in the shadows when individual awards are handed out. They knit teams together, control tempo, close spaces. They rarely top scoring charts or dominate highlight reels.
Ruiz, though, sees a shift.
Continuing his discussion with France Football, he pointed to a key reference: "Rodri won the Ballon d'Or two years ago. And although defenders and goalkeepers still find it difficult to gain recognition, I believe what matters today is the role a player performs more than his position on the pitch. And it is important to set an example for children who are starting to play football, so that they also look at midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers."
For Ruiz, that is the crux of it. The modern game is built on structure, intelligence and balance as much as on spectacular goals. If the award is to reflect football as it is played now, then players like him — the ones who dictate, link, and sacrifice — must be part of the conversation.
He has his medals. He has his argument. Now he waits to see if the voters are ready to reward the kind of season that does not always fit neatly into a statistics column, but ends with the biggest trophies of all.
