Honestly, if you weren't glued to the screen back in September, the result might actually shock you. For years, we all assumed the post-Messi and Ronaldo era would be a straight shootout between Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. We were wrong.
Ousmane Dembélé won the 2025 Men's Ballon d'Or. Yeah, you read 그 right. The guy once labeled "the injury-prone winger" basically flipped the script on his entire career. He didn't just win it; he dominated the voting. On September 22, 2025, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the atmosphere was electric. It felt like a homecoming. Dembélé, spearheading a Paris Saint-Germain side that finally, finally captured the UEFA Champions League, stood there with the Golden Ball while the home crowd went absolutely ballistic.
Why Ousmane Dembélé Took the Crown
You've gotta look at the numbers because they are kind of absurd. Dembélé finished the 2024/25 season with 37 goals and 15 assists. For a winger, that is productive-striker territory. But it wasn't just the stats. It was the "clutch" factor. He was the Champions League Player of the Season, scoring in almost every major knockout round as Luis Enrique's PSG side swept the treble.
He beat out Lamine Yamal, who came in second. Think about that for a second. An 18-year-old nearly won the biggest individual prize in sports. Yamal was incredible for Barcelona, but the "Dembouz" renaissance was just too powerful to ignore.
The Top 10 Men's Rankings 2025
It's a weird list if you're used to the old guard.
- Ousmane Dembélé (PSG/France)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
- Vitinha (PSG/Portugal)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt)
- Raphinha (Barcelona/Brazil)
- Achraf Hakimi (PSG/Morocco)
- Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid/France)
- Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
- Nuno Mendes (PSG/Portugal)
Notice someone missing? Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior, who many thought was a shoe-in just a year prior, fell way down to 16th. And Kylian Mbappé? 7th. Moving to Madrid didn't immediately give him the "Ballon d'Or bump" everyone predicted. Instead, the PSG collective—represented by four players in the top ten—showed that winning the Champions League still carries the most weight with the voters.
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Aitana Bonmatí: The Queen of Three
While the men's side had a first-time winner, the women's side was all about a dynasty. Aitana Bonmatí won her third consecutive Ballon d'Or Féminin. She is basically the female Lionel Messi at this point. She joined Messi and Michel Platini as the only players to ever win three in a row. It’s almost scary how good she is. Even with Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo having massive seasons (and leading Arsenal to a Champions League title), Bonmatí’s individual brilliance for Barcelona and Spain remained the gold standard.
"I never thought when I was a kid that I could achieve this," she said during her speech. It was a heavy moment. For five years straight, a Spanish woman from Barcelona has held that trophy. That’s not just a trend; it's a total takeover of the sport.
The Awards You Probably Missed
The gala wasn't just about the big two trophies. A few other names made history that night in Paris.
The Kopa Trophy went to Lamine Yamal for the second year running. At 18, he's basically outgrown the "young player" category, but rules are rules. He’s the first person to win it twice.
The Yashin Trophy saw a bit of a surprise. Gianluigi Donnarumma won the men's award after his heroics with PSG, but the big news was the inaugural Women’s Yashin Trophy. Hannah Hampton from Chelsea and England took that home. She was a wall during Euro 2025, and seeing a specialized goalkeeper award for women was long overdue.
The Gerd Müller Trophy (for most goals) went to Viktor Gyökeres. He's been a human cheat code. Between Sporting CP and his move to Arsenal, the guy bagged 63 goals for club and country. He beat Erling Haaland to the punch, which tells you everything you need to know about the year he had.
The Real Reason Real Madrid Boycotted (Again)
You might remember the 2024 drama where Real Madrid skipped the ceremony because Vinícius didn't win. Well, 2025 wasn't much better for them. Despite having Mbappé and Bellingham, they didn't land a single player on the podium.
The voting shift is real. Voters are moving away from "reputation" and focusing more on who actually delivers in the biggest UEFA and international moments of that specific calendar year. For the 2025 cycle, that was the PSG and Barcelona show.
What This Means for 2026
We are already seeing the 2026 Power Rankings shift. Harry Kane is currently leading the race for next year, finally looking to break his trophy curse at Bayern Munich. But don't count out Lamine Yamal. He’s getting better every month.
If you're looking to stay ahead of the curve for the next ceremony, keep an eye on these three things:
- The 2026 World Cup Qualifiers: These are weighing heavier on voters' minds than they used to.
- Champions League Consistency: As Dembélé proved, you don't need a decade of greatness if you are the best player on the team that lifts the Big Ears.
- The "New" Top 5: Salah and Raphinha are proving there is plenty of life in the "veterans" yet.
The 2025 Ballon d'Or was a changing of the guard. The era of the "unpredictable" superstar is here. Dembélé showed that a single year of focus and fitness can change a legacy forever.
To keep track of the current frontrunners for the next trophy, you should follow the monthly performance data on sites like Sofascore or the official France Football power rankings. The race for 2026 is already wide open.