Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati were crowned the best men’s and women’s player in the world at the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.
Dembele, the Paris Saint-Germain and France forward, took the men’s prize after leading his club to a treble-winning season and their first Champions League success. Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal,18, was runner-up after being voted the best young player.
“It’s incredible this feeling. I never thought when I was a kid that I could achieve this because I didn’t think women’s football can exist,” Bonmati said.
“I had idols like Andres Iniesta and Xavi and when I was a kid I only saw them on TV. It’s incredible to be here and make history.
“But all of these trophies are because of collective work. We had a difficult season because we won some trophies, but we also lost some to amazing footballers.”
Arsenal and England’s Alessia Russo got the better of Bonmati in the Champions League and Euros finals, but finished third in the women’s rankings. Her club-mate, Mariona Caldentey of Spain, came second.
Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman was named best women’s coach after England’s triumph over Spain in Switzerland, while PSG boss Luis Enrique picked up the men’s Johan Cruyff award.
England and Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton won the inaugural award for best women’s goalkeeper, with Man City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma picking up the seventh edition of the men’s prize for his season with PSG.
Former Lionesses keeper Mary Earps was on stage presenting the award to Hampton, who took her spot as England’s No 1 ahead of the Euros, prompting her to retire from international football five weeks before the tournament.
Arsenal and PSG won the awards for women’s and men’s club of the year after their Champions League successes.
Viktor Gyokeres’ 63 goals for Sporting and Sweden last season earned him the men’s Gerd Muller Trophy. Barcelona and Poland’s Ewa Pajor, scorer of 48 goals, scooped the women’s award.
Final men’s Ballon d’Or rankings
1: Ousmane Dembélé – PSG, France
2: Lamine Yamal – Barcelona, Spain
3: Vitinha – PSG, Portugal
4: Mohamed Salah – Liverpool, Egypt
5: Raphinha – Barcelona, Brazil
6: Achraf Hakimi – PSG, Morocco
7: Kylian Mbappé – Real Madrid, France
8: Cole Palmer – Chelsea, England
9: Gianluigi Donnarumma – PSG/Manchester City, Italy
10: Nuno Mendes – PSG, Portugal
11: Pedri – Barcelona, Spain
12: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – PSG/Napoli, Georgia
13: Harry Kane – Bayern Munich, England
14: Désiré Doué – PSG, France
15: Viktor Gyökeres – Sporting/Arsenal, Sweden
16: Vinícius Júnior – Real Madrid, Brazil
17: Robert Lewandowski – Barcelona, Poland
18: Scott McTominay – Napoli, Scotland
19: João Neves – PSG, Portugal
20: Lautaro Martínez – Inter, Argentina
21: Serhou Guirassy – Borussia Dortmund, Guinea
22: Alexis Mac Allister – Liverpool, Argentina
23: Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid, England
24: Fabián Ruiz – PSG, Spain
25: Denzel Dumfries – Inter, Netherlands
26: Erling Haaland – Manchester City, Norway
27: Declan Rice – Arsenal, England
28: Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool, Netherlands
29: Florian Wirtz – Liverpool/Bayer Leverkusen, Germany
30: Michael Olise – Bayern Munich, France
Sky Football
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