BarcelonaFifth in the Ballon d’Or and out of the ideal two elevens of the other great accolades of the world of football: what defines FIFA in the framework of The Best award and the team of the year selected by FIFPro, the world organization that represents professional footballers, composed of more than 70 state unions of players and which acts on behalf of more than 70,000 players around the world. Raphinha feels that, from the outside, he has not been rewarded as his extraordinary season as a Barcelona player, which, on the other hand, has been recognized, for example, by the League, which has awarded him as the best player of the past campaign in the framework of the Globe Soccer, a less prestigious distinction. From the Blaugrana dressing room they assure that this “injustice” will be fuel to keep seeing the best version of Raphinha.
The Brazilian footballer does not explain why his name has not even appeared on the Ballon d’Or podium, topped by Ousmane Dembélé (PSG), Lamine Yamal and Vitinha (PSG) and where he was relegated to fifth place, surpassed by Mohamed Salah (Liverpool). As many as 73 out of 100 journalists placed Dembélé at the top of their polls, as revealed France Football. Lamine Yamal was picked eleven times in the first place, while Raphinha and Pedri received none. “It was a disappointment. When you give everything, work every day and feel you’ve had an incredible season, you expect to be among the best. Finishing fifth was an honor, but my expectations were higher,” said the Brazilian. “I feel underrated and I think I deserve a lot more. Individual awards are not something I can control; they depend on other people’s votes, not me. I’ve had a fantastic season, and that’s enough for me.”
Pedri, eleventh in the Ballon d’Or ranking, on the other hand, does appear in the two ideal elevens of 2025, while Raphinha is relegated from both. FIFPro’s ideal team, with a 3-4-3 formation, features Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) and Ousmane Dembélé as strikers. In the FIFA one, with a 4-4-2 scheme, the two attackers are Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembélé. “The FIFA XI thing seemed like a joke to me. It’s not a big thing because I don’t pay much attention to what the best XI is, but when I saw that Raphinha wasn’t there, I thought it was amazing. He was very important for us last season. He had 22 goals in the Champions League, in the top competition. When you see the goals he scored, the assists, the influence he has on the team… it’s very unfair to him. I can’t believe that he is not in the best eleven in the world,” said Hansi Flick.
“Is he a basketball player?”
After being left out of the FIFPro ideal eleven, chosen by the players themselves, Raphinha had already shared through his Instagram several stories (posts that expire after 24 hours) with various statistics and accolades, as well as the three trophies he won last season as a Barcelona player: La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey. “Is he a basketball player?” Natalia Belloli posted, in the same format, on her profile. The footballer’s wife didn’t stop there and then republished a statistic showing the 62 goals Raphinha had been actively involved in last term.
In his best season as a professional, the Barcelona winger scored 34 goals and provided 26 assists under Hansi Flick in a total of 57 games. He was the footballer who played the most minutes in the Barça squad. Especially outstanding was his participation in the Champions League, in which he became the top scorer together with Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund), with 13 goals. The big difference is that Raphinha also provided up to eight assists. Figures that meant that the Brazilian surpassed Leo Messi’s best records in the top European club competition. In the 2011-12 season, the Argentine star scored 14 goals and provided five assists in 11 games.
His great performances, proven by the numbers, have made him one of the most respected and influential players in the Blaugrana dressing room, and one of the footballers in whom both Hansi Flick and his teammates trust the most. Renewed until 2028, Raphinha is one of the pillars and captains of the team in a 2026 in which they dream of winning the Champions League.
