 French striker Ousmane Dembélé celebrates his victory in a match. (Photo: XNA/VNA) |
Ousmane Dembélé won the 2025 Ballon d'Or on Monday at a ceremony held in Paris. The Paris Saint-Germain forward topped the vote of 100 international journalists, edging out Lamine Yamal (2nd) and Vitinha (3rd) to claim the honor given to the best football player of the year. He succeeds Spain's Rodri and joins the ranks of the trophy's illustrious winners.
The 28-year-old France forward Dembele, who inspired the capital club to their first Champions League title last season, became the sixth French player to lift the award and the first since Karim Benzema in 2022.
“What I have just experienced is exceptional, I have no words for it, what happened with PSG,” Dembele said on stage at the Paris ceremony. Dembélé’s stats tell the story: 35 goals and 16 assists in 53 appearances, crowned as Champions League Player of the Season and Ligue 1 Golden Boot winner with 21 goals.
Dembele’s prize was one of several for PSG, who won the treble of Champions League, Ligue 1 and the French Cup last season as well as the UEFA Super Cup this year.
The French champions were named team of the season, Luis Enrique was voted best coach and Gianluigi Donnarumma, who left for Manchester City in the close season, was recognised as top goalkeeper with the Yashin trophy.
Spain's Bonmati, the Champions League player of the season, won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the third time in a row, while England's Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman was honoured as women’s coach of the year after leading her side to the European title.
The 2025 Ballon d'Or was the 69th annual ceremony of the Ballon d'Or, presented by France Football, recognising the best footballers in the world in the 2024–25 season. For the fourth time in the history of the award, it was presented based on the results of the season instead of the calendar year.
