Ousmane Dembele won the 2025 Ballon d’Or award in France on Monday night following his exploits for PSG.
He pipped Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal to the award as Vitinha came third, while Mohammed Salah, and Barcelona’s Raphinha finished fourth, and fifth respectively.
Achraf Hakimi finished in the sixth position, Kylian Mbappe in seventh, Cole Palmer took the eighth position, and Gianlugi Donnarumma ended in ninth while Nuno Mendes occupied the 10th position.
He scored 35 goals, and recorded 16 assists in all competitions to lead the club to an historic treble in the 2024-25 season.
Dembele said: “I really don’t have the words. It was an incredible season with PSG.
“It is an individual trophy but it was really the collective that won it,” added Dembele, who was one of nine members of the triumphant PSG team from last season nominated for the prize.
“The Ballon d’Or has not really been an objective for me in my career but I worked hard for the team to win the Champions League.”
Lamine Yamal won the men’s Kopa Trophy, for best-performing player in the world under the age of 21.
He is the sixth Frenchman to win the award and only the second of the 21st century after Karim Benzema in 2022.
Raymond Kopa was the first-ever French player to win the award in 1958. The former France international was arguably one of the finest stars of the 1950’s.
A quick and agile attacking midfielder, he was known for his dribbling, playmaking and prolific galscoring abilities.
Jean-Pierre Papin won the Ballon d’Or in 1991 while at Marseille.
The Frenchman helped his club clinch Ligue 1 and finish as runners-up in the European Cup.
He finished as the top scorer in Ligue 1 (23 goals) and joint-top scorer in the European Cup (six goals). He also won the inaugural IFFHS World’s Best International Goal Scorer award that year.
Zinedine Zidane won the award in 1998.
He led Juventus to clinch the Serie A title and finish as runners-up in the Champions League. He also single-handedly won the World Cup for his country on home soil, scoring a brace in the final against Brazil.
Michel Platini won the award in three consecutive editions (1983, 1984, and 1985) and this puts him top of the elite class. Most of his success came at Juventus, where he spent five years, winning two league titles, the European Cup, amongst other club honors.
Karim Benzema won the prestigious award in 2022 after scoring a whopping 44 goals and provided 15 assists in 46 games across competitions last term.
2025 Ballon d’Or Award Winners
Men’s Ballon d’Or: Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain/France)
Men’s Kopa Trophy: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
Women’s Kopa Trophy: Vicky Lopez (Barcelona/Spain)
Women’s Johan Cryuff Trophy: Sarina Wiegman (England)
Men’s Johan Cryuff Trophy: Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Yashin Trophy: Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England)
Men’s Yashin Trophy: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City/Italy)
Women’s Gerd Muller Trophy: Ewa Pajor (Barcelona/Poland)
Men’s Gerd Muller Trophy: Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal/Sweden)
Women’s Club of the Year: Arsenal
Men’s Club of the Year: Paris Saint-Germain
Socrates Trophy: Xana Foundation
Women’s Ballon d’Or: Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona/Spain)
