Who will win the Ballon d’Or? Dembele the favourite with 2025 winner announced tonight…
PSG won the Treble, finally getting their filthy paws on the Champions League trophy. But will losing the Club World Cup final to Chelsea cost their best players?
The Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place on Monday. That came around fast, didn’t it?
Here are the top 10 favourites for the award, according to the bookmakers…
Favourites to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or
8=) Pedri (Barcelona)
The Spanish midfielder has been absolutely sensational for Barca under Hansi Flick.
8=) Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG)
Brilliant since his January move from Napoli, helping the French club cruise to another league title and contributing heavily to their capture of that long-craved Champions League crown. He ends the season with the Champions League, Coupe de France and not one but two league titles to his name thanks to Napoli managing to go on without him in the second half of the season and claim Serie A glory. Which reminds us: why the heck isn’t Scott McTominay in this list?
8=) Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Well, he was the best player as Chelsea were crowned the best in the world. If FIFA had their way, Palmer would get the gong.
7) Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)
The La Liga top scorer but Real Madrid won nothing in 2025. Any lingering vestiges of hope disappeared with Club World Cup defeat to PSG.
6) Achraf Hakimi (PSG)
The PSG names keep on coming. Is anyone surprised?
5) Vitinha (PSG)
Adding the Nations League with Portugal to the Champions League with PSG feels like a pretty compelling argument for individual honours.
3=) Raphinha (Barcelona)
A brilliant season for a Barcelona side that won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup in Flick’s first season. No Champions League should be crucial, though.
It’ll be worth it just to see him going around the auditorium on his knees, at the end of the day.
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3=) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
There had been a lot of nonsense talk about Salah having the Ballon in the bag, but winning the Premier League was never likely to be enough. Failing to score in two legs v PSG surely ended his chances.
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2) Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
Rodri sees a Ballon d’Or win in the 18-year-old Barcelona star’s future. Eight-f***ing-teen, by the way. The Kopa Trophy winner is already world class.
He was brilliant against Inter in the Champions League semi-final first leg and again in the second leg.
Barca secured a league and cup double, but will that be enough without the Champions League? Yamal made up for that with some Nations League heroics, tormenting France with a brace in a crazy 5-4 win in the semi-finals. He couldn’t get the better of Nuno Mendes in the final, though.
1) Ousmane Dembele (PSG)
Two footballers have scored more goals than Dembele in 2025 and he has done what Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe failed to do: Win the Champions League with PSG.
A goal in the semi-final at Arsenal helped, as will two assists against a shell-shocked Inter. He is the massive odds-on favourite.
A win at the Club World Cup would have helped his cause, but PSG were blown away by Chelsea and Cole Palmer. But at least he won the UEFA Super Cup, right?
