Ballon d'Or 2025: Ousmane Dembélé vs Lamine Jamal – Who Will Win the Golden Ball?
Dembélé is the Favorite to become the Sixth Frenchman to win the Ballon d'Or (Social Media)
Paris Saint-Germain star Ousmane Dembélé appears to be the favorite to become the sixth Frenchman to win the Ballon d'Or, awarded annually by France Football magazine to the best player in the world. He earned this title for leading his team to the domestic treble and its first-ever victory in the Champions League.
The awards ceremony will take place on Monday at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in the heart of Paris, where the host country appears poised to win the Player of the Year award for the seventh time in its history, following Michel Platini's three titles (1983, 1984, and 1985).
- Raymond Kopa (1958)
- Jean-Pierre Papin (1991)
- Zinedine Zidane (1998)
- Karim Benzema (2022)
Dembélé or Lamine Jamal?
After a decade and a half of domination of this award by Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, winning 13 titles between 2008 and 2023 (8 for Messi and 5 for Ronaldo), the rotation is completely open since the former joined Inter Miami in the United States and the latter Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
Last season, the award was awarded to Spanish star Rodri, a Manchester City star, but he is out of the running this year due to an injury that kept him sidelined for an extended period. Dembélé and Barcelona's youngster Lamine Jamal have thus become the contenders, with the Frenchman having the edge.
Following their domestic treble and historic Champions League victory with a 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in the final, seven other PSG players were selected among the 30 finalists:
- Moroccan Achraf Hakimi
- Frenchman Désiré Douet
- Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
- Portuguese Nuno Mendes, João Neves, and Vitinha
- Spanish goalkeeper Fabian Ruiz
- Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who joined Manchester City this summer.
Who will win the Ballon d'Or?
But Dembélé is the undisputed winner, having successfully replaced his compatriot Kylian Mbappé, who left for Real Madrid, by scoring 35 goals for the Parisian club.
The 28-year-old flourished in his new role, transitioning from winger to striker, and put in a superb performance that far surpassed his exceptional season with Barcelona in 2018-19, when he scored 14 goals.
Asked if he was among the favorites for the award, Dembélé told Le Monde newspaper: "It's nice after a great season with Paris Saint-Germain," describing the Ballon d'Or as "the Holy Grail of individuality." He added: "I think I'm one of the favorites, but we'll see."
Alongside Dembélé, Djamel appears to be the most likely candidate after the 18-year-old's impressive performances for Barcelona, which position him as a potential successor to the legendary Messi at the Catalan club.
Djamel won the Copa del Rey for the best under-21 player last year after helping Spain win the European Championship.
The Moroccan-born player scored 18 goals in 55 appearances last season in all competitions, helping his team win three domestic titles: the league, the cup, and the Super Cup. However, the Catalan club's Champions League campaign ended in the semi-finals.
Artificial Intelligence Predicts the 2025 Ballon d'Or.
According to Avicia Consulting, which uses an artificial intelligence model based on thousands of sports databases, Ousmane Dembélé is expected to win the Ballon d'Or.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker, who won the Champions League last season, has a 72% chance of winning the France Football trophy, according to AI calculations used by Avicia and revealed by Le Parisien.
Salah and Mbappé
Voting for the Ballon d'Or is now based on seasonal performance rather than the calendar year, as was previously the case.
The list of nominees includes Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, who led Liverpool to their 20th Premier League title, equaling Manchester United's record, and also reached the League Cup final (a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle).
The list also includes Mbappé, making his eighth career appearance, after capping his first season with Real Madrid by winning La Liga's top scorer award and the European Golden Shoe.
Real Madrid, who finished last season without a trophy, boycotted the awards ceremony last year after learning in advance that Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior would not be honored. He was nominated again this year, alongside fellow Englishman Jude Bellingham.
Other notable nominees include:
- Sweden Victor Jokeres (currently at Arsenal),
- Norwegian Erling Haaland (Manchester City),
- Englishman Harry Kane (Bayern Munich),
- Englishman Cole Palmer (Chelsea),
- Dutchman Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).
The 10 best nominees for the 2025 Ballon d'Or
The British website "Score 90" has published the list of the 10 best players:
- Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Lamine Jamal (Barcelona)
- Mbappé (Real Madrid)
- Pedri (Barcelona)
- Salah (Liverpool)
- Rafinha (Barcelona)
- Vittiana (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain)
List of awards presented at the 2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony
The 69th Ballon d'Or ceremony will award 13 prizes: six for women, six for men, and one for the mixed team.
- Men's Ballon d'Or
- Women's Ballon d'Or
- Men's Copa Trophy (Best Young Player)
- Women's Copa Trophy (Best Young Player)
- Men's Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper)
- Women's Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper)
- Men's Cruyff Trophy (Best Men's Manager)
- Women's Cruyff Trophy (Best Women's Manager)
- Men's Club of the Year
- Women's Club of the Year
- Gerd Müller Trophy (Top Goalscorer)
- Women's Gerd Müller Trophy (Top Goalscorer)
- Socrates Trophy (Best Humanitarian Action by a Footballer)
The former Brazilian star, winner of the 2005 Ballon d'Or, will present the prestigious award to the winner, according to the newspaper "Cope."
The Ballon d'Or is awarded by a jury of journalists, one from each country ranked among the top 100 in the FIFA rankings.
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