Ousmane Dembélé Triumphs in 2025 Ballon d'Or
A Stellar Season for Dembélé
Paris Saint-Germain and France international attacker Ousmane Dembélé has been named the winner of the 2025 Ballon d’Or, beating out Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal. Dembélé’s victory comes after a hugely successful season with PSG, where the 28-year-old participated in 60 matches, scoring 37 goals and providing 15 assists.
He led PSG to a clean sweep of domestic and international honors, securing the UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, French Cup, and French Super Cup.
While Yamal had an impressive season, aiding Barcelona to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup, as well as claiming the UEFA European Championship with Spain, his individual statistics fell short compared to Dembélé’s. The 18-year-old participated in 55 matches, recording 18 goals and providing 25 assists.
About the Ballon d’Or
The Ballon d’Or is awarded annually by the monthly magazine France Football, in collaboration with UEFA. This prestigious award honors the best male and female football players worldwide, independent of their league or nationality.
The reference period for the 2025 award spanned the entire season, from 1 August 2024 to 2 August 2025, encompassing international competitions such as the Club World Cup, Euros, Copa América, and the Women’s AFCON. (The 2024 Olympics results were counted toward the previous award.)
The Ballon d’Or is evaluated based on three criteria, in the following order:
- Individual performances: Exceptional character and decisiveness.
- Collective performances and achievements: Overall team success.
- Class and fair play.
An international jury of journalists votes for the award. For the men’s trophy, each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings contributes a representative vote. The FIFA ranking used for this year’s award is the one issued on 7 August 2025, including a representative vote from South Africa, ranked 54th globally.
Each juror selects ten players ranked in order of merit from a shortlist of 30, compiled by the editorial staff of France Football, members of the L’Équipe editorial team, a juror from the previous edition, and UEFA ambassadors.
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