Aitana Bonmatí wins women's Ballon d'Or for third year running
Barcelona's 18-year-old Lamine Yamal is best young player
Paris Saint-Germain and France forward Ousmane Dembele won the 2025 men's Ballon d'Or, football's most prestigious accolade in recognition of outstanding achievements and exceptional talent, on Monday.
The 28-year-old, named ahead of Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Paris club-mate Vitinha, completed a memorable campaign in a season of redemption and leadership as PSG secured a historic quadruple.
'They said I was finished. They laughed when I fell, they called me fragile, injury-prone, a wasted talent. What they didn’t see were the nights I cried in silence, the pain I carried, the moments I almost gave up. They never saw the hours of rehab, the loneliness, the doubts that tried to break me. This Ballon d’Or isn’t just a trophy—it’s a symbol of survival. Every scar, every setback, every sleepless night has brought me here. This golden ball shines bright, but my journey to it was built in the dark. To those who believed in me when the world turned away—this is for you. And to those who doubted… thank you, you made me stronger,' he wrote in a long Facebook post along with a picture holding his prized possession.
He was UEFA Champions League Player of the Season as PSG won the title for the first time and also played a key role in a domestic double, ending 2024/25 with an incredible haul of 37 goals and 15 assists.
Other men's prizes awarded in Paris included the men's Kopa Trophy (best young player), men's Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), men's Johan Cruyff Trophy (best coach in club/national team), men's Gerd Müller Trophy (top scorer in club/national team) and the Men's Club of the Year.
Aitana Bonmatí won the women's Ballon d'Or for the third year running while the 18-year-old Yamal, who was Dembele's teammate at Barcelona when he first broke through in 2023, was again awarded the men's Kopa Trophy.
The Yashin Trophy went to Gianluigi Donnarumma, the Johan Cruyff Trophy was won by Luis Enrique, and Viktor Gyokeres, now at Arsenal, took the Gerd Müller Trophy courtesy of his 63 goals for Sporting CP and Sweden.
Men's Ballon d'Or top ten
1. Ousmane Dembélé (France, Paris Saint-Germain)
2. Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona)
3. Vitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain)
4. Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool)
5. Raphinha (Brazil, Barcelona)
6. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, Paris Saint-Germain)
7. Kylian Mbappé (France, Real Madrid)
8. Cole Palmer (England, Chelsea)
9. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy, Paris Saint-Germain)
10. Nuno Mendes (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain)
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