The 2025 Ballon d’Or award ceremony took place, with French forward Ousmane Dembélé claiming this year’s honor.

Dembélé is 28 years old. During the 2024/25 season, he made 53 appearances for Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 35 goals and providing 16 assists. With PSG, he won four trophies: the Coupe de France, the Trophée des Champions, Ligue 1, and the UEFA Champions League.

On the international stage, Dembélé made 7 appearances for the French national team during the evaluation period, scoring 2 goals. Individually, he was awarded the Ligue 1 Golden Boot, Ligue 1 Player of the Year, and UEFA Champions League Player of the Season.

Dembélé rose to prominence at a young age. In 2017, he transferred from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona for a fee of €148 million—second only to Neymar’s €220 million move to Paris Saint-Germain, making it the second-most expensive transfer in history at the time.

To this day, that fee remains the third-highest ever, surpassed only by Paris Saint-Germain’s €180 million signing of Kylian Mbappé in the 2018/19 season.

After spending six years at Barcelona, Dembélé moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2023 for €50 million—and has now won the Ballon d’Or in 2025.

2025 Ballon d’Or Final Ranking

1. Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France, 28 years old, first-time nominee)
2. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain, 18 years old)
3. Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain / Portugal, 25 years old)
4. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool / Egypt, 33 years old)
5. Raphinha (Barcelona / Brazil, 28 years old)
6. Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain / Morocco, 26 years old)
7. Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid / France, 26 years old)
8. Cole Palmer (Chelsea / England, 23 years old)
9. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain / Manchester City / Italy, 26 years old)
10. Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain / Portugal, 23 years old)
11. Pedri (Barcelona / Spain, 22 years old, second-time nominee)
12. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli / Paris Saint-Germain / Georgia, 24 years old, second-time nominee)
13. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich / England, 32 years old, seventh-time nominee)
14. Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain / France, 20 years old, first-time nominee)
15. João Pedro Geraldino (Jørgensen) (Sporting CP / Arsenal / Sweden, 27 years old, first-time nominee)
16. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid / Brazil, 25 years old, fourth-time nominee)
17. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona / Poland, 37 years old, ninth-time nominee)
18. Scott McTominay (Napoli / Scotland, 28 years old, first-time nominee)
19. João Neves (Paris Saint-Germain / Portugal, 20 years old, first-time nominee)
20. Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan / Argentina, 28 years old, fourth-time nominee)
21. Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund / Guinea, 29 years old, first-time nominee)
22. Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool / Argentina, 26 years old, first-time nominee)
23. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid / England, 22 years old, third-time nominee)
24. Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain / Spain, 29 years old, first-time nominee)
25. Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan / Netherlands, 29 years old, first-time nominee)
26. Erling Haaland (Manchester City / Norway, 25 years old, fifth-time nominee)
27. Declan Rice (Arsenal / England, 26 years old, second-time nominee)
28. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool / Netherlands, 34 years old, third-time nominee)
29. Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen / Liverpool / Germany, 22 years old, second-time nominee)
30. Michael Olise (Bayern Munich / France, 23 years old, first-time nominee)

List of All Ballon d’Or Winners in History

• 1956: Stanley Matthews (England)
• 1957: Alfredo Di Stéfano (Argentina)
• 1958: Raymond Kopa (France)
• 1959: Alfredo Di Stéfano (Argentina)
• 1960: Luis Suárez (Spain)
• 1961: Omar Sívori (Italy)
• 1962: Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)
• 1963: Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)
• 1964: Denis Law (Scotland)
• 1965: Eusébio (Portugal)
• 1966: Bobby Charlton (England)
• 1967: Florian Albert (Hungary)
• 1968: George Best (Northern Ireland)
• 1969: Gianni Rivera (Italy)
• 1970: Gerd Müller (Germany)
• 1971: Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
• 1972: Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
• 1973: Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
• 1974: Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
• 1975: Oleg Blokhin (Ukraine)
• 1976: Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
• 1977: Allan Simonsen (Denmark)
• 1978: Kevin Keegan (England)
• 1979: Kevin Keegan (England)
• 1980: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany)
• 1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany)
• 1982: Paolo Rossi (Italy)
• 1983: Michel Platini (France)
• 1984: Michel Platini (France)
• 1985: Michel Platini (France)
• 1986: Igor Belanov (Ukraine)
• 1987: Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
• 1988: Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
• 1989: Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
• 1990: Lothar Matthäus (Germany)
• 1991: Jean-Pierre Papin (France)
• 1992: Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
• 1993: Roberto Baggio (Italy)
• 1994: Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
• 1995: George Weah (Liberia)
• 1996: Matthias Sammer (Germany)
• 1997: Ronaldo (Brazil)
• 1998: Zinedine Zidane (France)
• 1999: Rivaldo (Brazil)
• 2000: Luís Figo (Portugal)
• 2001: Michael Owen (England)
• 2002: Ronaldo (Brazil)
• 2003: Pavel Nedvěd (Czech Republic)
• 2004: Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
• 2005: Ronaldinho (Brazil)
• 2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
• 2007: Kaká (Brazil)
• 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2009: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2010: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2011: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2012: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2013: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2015: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2018: Luka Modrić (Croatia)
• 2019: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2021: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2022: Karim Benzema (France)
• 2023: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2024: Rodri (Spain)
• 2025: Ousmane Dembélé (France)

Note: No Ballon d’Or was awarded in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Official Ballon d’Or Rules

Article 1

The Ballon d’Or and its voting process are organized annually by France Football magazine. The award ceremony is jointly hosted by France Football and UEFA.

Article 2

The Ballon d’Or aims to honor the best male and female footballers in the world, regardless of league or nationality.

Article 3

The evaluation period covers an entire football season, specifically from August 1, 2024, to August 2, 2025, including all international competitions (such as the FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Women’s EURO, Copa América, and Africa Cup of Nations). Note: Performances at the 2024 Olympic Games are counted toward the previous year’s Ballon d’Or cycle.

Article 4

The Ballon d’Or is awarded based on the following three criteria, listed in order of importance:

1. Individual performance, decisiveness, and impressiveness.
2. Team performance and trophies won.
3. Sportsmanship and fair play.

Article 5

The Ballon d’Or is voted on by an international jury of specialized journalists. Each country represented sends one journalist. For the men’s award, representatives come from the top 100 nations in the FIFA Men’s World Ranking; for the women’s award, from the top 50. The relevant FIFA ranking used is the one published on August 7, 2025—the date the 30-player shortlist is announced.

Article 6

Each juror selects and ranks their top 10 players from the official 30-player shortlist. This list is jointly established by the editorial teams of France Football and L’Équipe, at least one member of the previous year’s jury, and UEFA ambassadors (for the men’s award: Luís Figo and Fabio Capello; for the women’s award: Nadine Angerer).

Article 7

Points are awarded as follows: 1st place = 15 points, 2nd = 12, 3rd = 10, 4th = 8, 5th = 7, 6th = 5, 7th = 4, 8th = 3, 9th = 2, 10th = 1. The player with the highest total score wins the Ballon d’Or.

Article 8

In the event of a tie in total points, the player with more first-place votes ranks higher. If still tied, second-place votes are compared, then third-place votes, and so on.

Article 9

Any disputes arising during the voting process are resolved by the Editor-in-Chief of France Football, who acts as the official organizer.