You remember the headlines from 2017? The "next Neymar" talk. The €105 million price tag that felt like a weight around a twenty-year-old's neck. For years, the conversation around Ousmane Dembele wasn't about trophies or the Ballon d'Or; it was about hamstrings, hospital beds, and missed training sessions.
Then 2025 happened.
Honestly, if you told a Barcelona fan in 2021 that Dembele would be standing on a stage in Paris holding that golden ball, they’d have laughed you out of the room. But here we are. It’s 2026, and the dust has finally settled on one of the most improbable individual seasons in modern football history.
He didn't just win it. He took it.
The Numbers That Fired the 2025 Run
A lot of people think the Ousmane Dembele Ballon d'Or win was just a "narrative" vote because he's French and plays for PSG. That's a massive misconception. You can’t ignore the cold, hard data. In the 2024-25 season, the man was a walking cheat code.
Basically, he finished that campaign with 35 goals and 16 assists across all competitions. For a winger who was historically criticized for his "lack of end product," those are video game numbers. He wasn't just stat-padding in Ligue 1 either.
Check this out:
- He scored 8 goals in the Champions League.
- He bagged a goal and an assist in the Club World Cup semi-final against Real Madrid.
- He netted the opening goal in the 2-1 Coupe de France final win over Lyon.
Winning the continental treble with PSG was the kicker. When you lead a team to their first-ever Champions League title and you’re the top scorer in the league, the voters usually stop looking for reasons to say no.
Beating Lamine Yamal
The race was tight. Kinda stressful, actually. Lamine Yamal was the darling of the media, and for good reason. The kid is a phenomenon. He had 18 goals and 25 assists, dragging Barcelona to a La Liga title.
But when Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League semi-finals to Inter Milan, the momentum shifted. Dembele stayed standing. He was the "clutch" factor that Yamal, at 17, just couldn't quite match in the biggest European moments yet.
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Why This Win Was Different
France Football has three main criteria for the award: individual performance, team achievements, and "class and fair play."
In the past, Dembele struggled with that third one. The stories of him being late to training because of video games were legendary. But under Luis Enrique at PSG, something clicked. He became a leader.
You saw it in his body language. He wasn't just hanging out on the wing waiting for the ball; he was dropping deep, dictating play, and—most importantly—staying fit. He played 53 matches in the 2024-25 season. For Ousmane, that’s the real miracle.
The Tactical Shift in Paris
Luis Enrique stopped treating him like a traditional touchline winger. He gave him the "freedom of the park."
Sometimes he’d pop up as a false nine. Other times he was a traditional number ten. This unpredictability is what made him the best player in the world for that twelve-month stretch. Defenders couldn't double-team him because they never knew where he was going to be.
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What Really Happened With the Vote
The final rankings saw Dembele beat Yamal and his PSG teammate Vitinha. It wasn't a landslide, but it was decisive.
- Ousmane Dembele (PSG / France)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
- Vitinha (PSG / Portugal)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool / Egypt)
- Raphinha (Barcelona / Brazil)
Critics pointed to Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid as a reason why Dembele flourished. With Mbappe gone, the spotlight—and the tactical focus—shifted entirely to Ousmane. He wasn't playing second fiddle anymore. He was the conductor.
The Injury Curse: Is it Over?
We have to be real here. As we look at him in early 2026, the old ghosts haven't completely vanished.
After winning the Ballon d'Or in September 2025, he’s already dealt with a calf injury that sidelined him for three weeks. He also missed time in late 2025 due to illness. It’s the paradox of Dembele: he is simultaneously the most talented player on the planet and the most fragile.
But that’s why the 2025 win matters so much. It was the "perfect window." A year where his body finally cooperated with his talent.
What's Next for the Champ?
The 2026 World Cup is looming. France is a favorite, and Dembele is now the veteran leader of that attack.
If you're looking to follow his path this season, watch his "expected assists" (xA) numbers. Even when he isn't scoring, he’s creating at a rate that almost nobody in Europe can match. He’s currently averaging over 2.0 Shot Creating Actions (SCA) per 90 minutes in Ligue 1.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Analysts:
- Watch the Heat Maps: Notice how Dembele now drifts into the "Zone 14" (the area just outside the penalty box) more than he ever did at Barcelona. This is where he creates his most dangerous chances.
- Ignore the "Flash" Clips: Don't just watch his dribbling highlights. Look at his defensive recovery runs. Under Enrique, his work rate has nearly doubled, which is a key reason he won the "Class and Fair Play" portion of the Ballon d'Or criteria.
- Monitor the 2026 Odds: Currently, the bookies have him at 66/1 to retain the award. Most of the money is on Mbappe or Yamal for next year, but as 2025 proved, betting against a healthy Dembele is a risky move.
He changed the narrative from "what if" to "it happened." Whether he wins another one or not, the 2025 trophy serves as the ultimate validation for a player everyone had written off.