Ousmane Dembélé was crowned the 2025 Ballon d’Or after a season that saw Paris Saint-Germain win the UEFA Champions League for the first time, narrowly beating Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal in the final vote. On the women’s side, Aitana Bonmatí completed a remarkable hat-trick of Ballon d’Ors, becoming the first woman to claim the award three years running.
Dembélé’s path to football’s highest individual prize was a story of reinvention. Once sidelined by PSG coach Luis Enrique for disciplinary reasons, he was shifted into a central striking role and quickly became the team’s most potent attacking threat. The former Barcelona winger turned striker played with renewed focus, helping deliver PSG’s extraordinary 2024–25 campaign, which produced continental glory and a domestic treble of league, cup and super cup titles.
Across all competitions he finished with 35 goals and 16 assists in 53 appearances, and in Europe he was involved in 14 Champions League goals — eight strikes and six assists in 15 matches. His pressing and team play were particularly influential in PSG’s emphatic 5–0 win over Inter Milan in the final.
Dembélé also impressed at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, even though PSG lost 3–0 to Chelsea in the final. Those performances, and his transformation after a turbulent spell, helped sway voters who felt he had been decisive in turning PSG into champions. On stage in Paris he received the trophy from Ronaldinho and, visibly moved, invited his mother to join him while reflecting on what the season meant for him. He paid tribute to teammates and coaches for their role in his rebound.
By winning the Ballon d’Or he became only the sixth Frenchman to do so, joining Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema — a roll call of national greats that highlights the significance of his achievement.
Lamine Yamal, who turned 18 in July, finished second in the men’s voting. The Barcelona forward helped his club secure La Liga and the Copa del Rey and played a leading role in their run to the Champions League semifinals. He was also handed the Kopa Trophy for the world’s best under-21 player for the second consecutive year, underlining his rapid development. Asked about his future, Yamal said he intended to keep working hard to win more honours.
Aitana Bonmatí’s third straight women’s Ballon d’Or was a historic achievement. No woman had previously claimed three in a row, and the feat echoes rare stretches of dominance on the men’s side by Michel Platini and Lionel Messi. Bonmatí, who described Barcelona as “the club of my life,” helped her team to a domestic treble and starred in a campaign that ended in a narrow 1–0 defeat to Arsenal in the Women’s Champions League final.
Bonmatí also received individual recognition at the Women’s European Championship, where she was named player of the tournament despite Spain losing to England on penalties in the final. Her performances were all the more remarkable after a summer hospitalisation with viral meningitis from which she recovered to return to top-level football.
Other awards on the night reflected a season dominated by a handful of standout clubs and individuals. PSG were voted the best men’s club, while Gianluigi Donnarumma collected the Lev Yashin Award as the men’s best goalkeeper after crucial saves in the knockout stages; he has since moved to Manchester City. England and Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was honoured as the women’s best goalkeeper following a strong season at club level and a key role in England’s European triumph.
The Gerd Müller trophies for top scorers went to Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor in the women’s game and Viktor Gyökeres on the men’s side. Gyökeres, who joined Arsenal from Sporting Portugal over the summer, enjoyed a prolific campaign, registering 54 goals and 13 assists across 52 appearances. Barcelona’s Vicky López claimed the women’s Kopa Trophy, while Sarina Wiegman — who guided England to continental success — won the Johan Cruyff Prize for best women’s coach. PSG’s Luis Enrique was recognised in the men’s category.
Luis Enrique also took the men’s coaching prize, capping a huge night for PSG and their supporters and underlining the club’s influence on this season’s storylines. The awards evening was a reminder of how fast football can pivot: form, fitness and opportunity combined to rewrite careers, and fans in Paris celebrated a season of dramatic turnaround well into the night and global attention.
