2025 Ballon d’Or Prediction thread

[boltz]

Ousmane Dembele has made history for his club PSG and himself as an individual for winning the best male players award popularised as the ballon d'Or. He deserves what he got at this time after many times of coming out in runner up positions. No one for sure would have believed that Mbappe would be behind Dembele in first to win the ballon d'Or award, it's surprising yet a reality. Now we can all look front for what this new season could give for young talents like Yamal and Mbappe if anyone of their two can be the next to win it by next year.

I see Ousmane Dembele success in winning the Ballon d'Or as being at the right place at the right time. Believe me this would have been Kylian Mbappe winning this award if he remained at PSG. But it is what it is and he has missed it. His exit at PSG gave room to the rise of Ousmane Dembele in the club. This was Ousmane Dembele whom many thought his career was over at Barcelona before he moved to french capital. Am so happy for him for him because his hard work paid off.

It's been quite a journey for Ousmane Dembele. Leaving Barcelona turned out to be the best move for him, as his rise at the French club brought out the player many had been waiting to see. After years of battling injuries, he finally delivered 24/25 season and showed his true potential. From being doubted to winning the Ballon d’Or, but his brilliance is now undeniable.

Well , Barcelona didn't want him anymore and Dembele didn't want to stay with Barcelona either so it was a win-win situation for both of them. However, in my opinion , Dembele is not a better player than Haaland , Salah ,  Yamal or even Raphina and this Balloon D'or won't change my mind haha.  Yea , he won it but in so many eyes he didn't deserve it but I personally think the stats pushed him to be the winner this year.

[BIT-BENDER]

Ousmane Dembele has made history for his club PSG and himself as an individual for winning the best male players award popularised as the ballon d'Or. He deserves what he got at this time after many times of coming out in runner up positions. No one for sure would have believed that Mbappe would be behind Dembele in first to win the ballon d'Or award, it's surprising yet a reality. Now we can all look front for what this new season could give for young talents like Yamal and Mbappe if anyone of their two can be the next to win it by next year.

I see Ousmane Dembele success in winning the Ballon d'Or as being at the right place at the right time. Believe me this would have been Kylian Mbappe winning this award if he remained at PSG. But it is what it is and he has missed it. His exit at PSG gave room to the rise of Ousmane Dembele in the club. This was Ousmane Dembele whom many thought his career was over at Barcelona before he moved to french capital. Am so happy for him for him because his hard work paid off.

You should not take anything away from Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe has been at the club for a long time but he did not win anything.
I believe that Dembele deserved this award and this has nothing to do with Kylian Mbappe.
This is Dembele's Frist nomination and it is quite wonderful for him to win it, I think his story is uplifting and even Mbappe would be proud of him.

[Just Say]

It is a well deserved recognition and accolade for Ousmane Dembele, because he was very good playing for Paris Saint German last season with the performance that this Paris Saint German team showed last season by winning major trophies, the UEFA Champions League, French League One, French Super Cup, French League Cup, and also winning the European Super Cup, which was very amazing and awesome for the Paris Saint German Team, Dembele was the leading playing in this Paris Saint German Team which I think he has been very good and amazing, but for someone as Kylian Mbappe leaving for Real Madrid who would’ve know that Dembele will win the Baloon D’Or before Kylian Mbappe, well I must say such is life.

To be honest it was certainly a recognition and commendation for the French player because it seemed like he deserved the award, the French player was given the special honor based on his stats last season. If he hadn't been awarded this special honor this season, we would have assumed that the Ballon d'Or had lost its standard. Maybe he didn't just carry the honor for his club alone, other players from his club, such as the goalkeeper and even his mentor, also won some great awards yesterday.There may be a lot of struggle behind his success, because everyone may have observed that they were great in the Champions League last season, especially this player who came to everyone's attention in that tournament.

[bitcoin_mining]

It makes sense to me that Dembele won the Ballon d’Or considering his performances last year with PSG. He won the Ligue 1, he won the Champions League, and he won the UEFA Super Cup at the beginning of the 2025/26 season. He was a protagonist in all those competitions, contributing both with goals and assists. He began this season nicely as well and was only stopped due to an injury.

I also considered that the winner of the Ballon d'Or won by Dembele was very appropriate even though there was a narrative built on social media that Yamal should have won the Trophy.
Dembele's contribution to the glory of his team made me think it was very fair to get.
Dembele's statistics in the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup Cup with PSG and his hard work after recovering from injury is the reason why the d'Or trophy ballon is worthy and appropriate for him.
Congratulations to Dembele.

Yes, I don't see much controversy about the Ballon d'Or this season because the Ballon d'Or authorities have given the Ballon d'Or to a deserving player this time. Last season, Ousmane Dembele really performed well and contributed the most to every victory of PSG. His personal good performance as well as the team's highest achievements are probably the reason why he is considered the most deserving in giving the Ballon d'Or. Ousmane Dembele was in second place with a few points less than this. Lamine Yamal, Raphinha had good potential but their achievements as a team were not very high that's why maybe no player from Barcelona got the Ballon d'Or. The kind of football Lamine Yamal is currently playing so that the next Ballon d'Or can be his if he gets good team support.

[DYOR+BTC]

Ousmane Dembele has made history for his club PSG and himself as an individual for winning the best male players award popularised as the ballon d'Or. He deserves what he got at this time after many times of coming out in runner up positions. No one for sure would have believed that Mbappe would be behind Dembele in first to win the ballon d'Or award, it's surprising yet a reality. Now we can all look front for what this new season could give for young talents like Yamal and Mbappe if anyone of their two can be the next to win it by next year.

I see Ousmane Dembele success in winning the Ballon d'Or as being at the right place at the right time. Believe me this would have been Kylian Mbappe winning this award if he remained at PSG. But it is what it is and he has missed it. His exit at PSG gave room to the rise of Ousmane Dembele in the club. This was Ousmane Dembele whom many thought his career was over at Barcelona before he moved to french capital. Am so happy for him for him because his hard work paid off.

You should not take anything away from Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe has been at the club for a long time but he did not win anything.
I believe that Dembele deserved this award and this has nothing to do with Kylian Mbappe.
This is Dembele's Frist nomination and it is quite wonderful for him to win it, I think his story is uplifting and even Mbappe would be proud of him.

Both dembele and kylian mbappe are two wonderful players with super performing skills in the world right now since the full absence of messi and cristiano Ronaldo due to age. Yes dembele was favorite to win the the ballon d'or because of his performance and support to PSG in getting to the milestone they achieved but that doesn't mean kylian is not a wonderful players just that he ran out of luck or there are little mistakes affecting him which could be corrected on a long run, arguing about the best among them is not necessary instead we just need to congratulate the winner and prayer for God to favour kylian in his hard works.

[knowngunman]

Well , Barcelona didn't want him anymore and Dembele didn't want to stay with Barcelona either so it was a win-win situation for both of them. However, in my opinion , Dembele is not a better player than Haaland , Salah ,  Yamal or even Raphina and this Balloon D'or won't change my mind haha.  Yea , he won it but in so many eyes he didn't deserve it but I personally think the stats pushed him to be the winner this year.

I think only Barcelona fans see Dembele emerge as undeserving since they expected their wonder kid to win the award. To be fair, I think Dembele is the most deserving player to win this award this year considering the stats and the organisers did a wonderful and unbiased job unlike the last year event that was full of controversies. Of course, I will agree with you comparing Dembele with other players you mentioned but please remove Haaland from that list because he's not fit in that list of players. We are not only talking about scoring tapping goals here 

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Both dembele and kylian mbappe are two wonderful players with super performing skills in the world right now since the full absence of messi and cristiano Ronaldo due to age. Yes dembele was favorite to win the the ballon d'or because of his performance and support to PSG in getting to the milestone they achieved but that doesn't mean kylian is not a wonderful players just that he ran out of luck or there are little mistakes affecting him which could be corrected on a long run, arguing about the best among them is not necessary instead we just need to congratulate the winner and prayer for God to favour kylian in his hard works.

Both players are doing well and have done well also in the past that can warrant their consideration either for the award, but i want to believe that this opportunity Ousmane Dembele had was a unique one that led to his highest achievement in career, i also have this strong confidence that Mbappe will also one day get the same opportunity for him to outshine and made it, because he has the required quality needed and if he maintained his performance, he could do better and get there.

[yenerbatmaz]

I didn't really like this year's Ballon d'Or.
Dembele won the award because he was with PSG and PSG won the Champions League. I don't think he's any better than Raphinha. I don't think the Champions League title should be the biggest criterion for the Ballon d'Or. It used to be great if Messi won it, and Ronaldo won it too; no one would have thought about anything else, but these players, Raphinha and Dembele, will never come close.
Yamal is coming, and next year, Yamal will be the winner of the Ballon d'Or. Make a note of it now...

[Zackz5000]

OUSMANE DEMBÉLÉ WINS THE MEN'S BALLON D'OR!



Ballon d’Or 2025 live updates: Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati named best footballers in the world.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele and Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati have won the top prizes at the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in Paris, France.

Dembele, who helped PSG become the first French side to win a continental treble last season, beat Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal to the men’s award.

Spain international Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or Féminin for the third year in a row, edging out Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey.

Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/live-blogs/ballon-dor-2025-live-updates-winners-time-result/26ouotchoNbJ/

Well deserved, at least they got it right this time around because Dembele met all the criteria to be crowned this year's winner. I believe that sometime ago, he wouldn't have believed at some point he will be among the top 3 finalist for the award not to talk of winning it. But his year his won it, that's the power hard work and dedication. Congratulations to him.

There was no complain from any were because the Ballon d'Or was given to who deserve it, there was somuch murmur last time because the winner doesn't deserve it but this time everybody was pointing at Ousmane Dembélé and he won it.
Ousmane Dembélé won everything a player should win to be crown the best player infact he met all the criteria as you said.

[Fiatless]

There was no complain from any were because the Balloon d'Or was given to who deserve it, there was somuch murmur last time because the winner doesn't deserve it but this time everybody was pointing at Ousmane Dembélé and he won it.
Ousmane Dembélé won everything a player should win to be crown the best player infact he met all the criteria as you said.

He deserves it and I am happy there was no controversy like last year. Lamine Yamal also had an incredible year but it is clear that the French footballer had a more prosperous season. The Spanish footballer's time will come. maybe next year. I hope he recovers quickly from his injury so that he can begin the chase for the award. Congratulations to the PSG player.   
 

[sokani]

I believe the main reason for Dembele's award might be that it’s presented by the French magazine, and they likely favor the winner from French team rather than someone from abroad. That said, I would give the award to Salah, but definitely not to any PSG players. They were beaten in yesterday's match against Marseille ^{Dembélé wasn’t playing due to injury}.

I don't see it that way, and I believe most persons do not see it that way either. The award is well deserved, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Dembele is a French national and the Ballon d'or is co-organized by a French group. Yamal and Rafinha both had a great season, but winning the champions league gave Dembele the edge.

[Mame89]

Ousmane Dembele has made history for his club PSG and himself as an individual for winning the best male players award popularised as the ballon d'Or. He deserves what he got at this time after many times of coming out in runner up positions. No one for sure would have believed that Mbappe would be behind Dembele in first to win the ballon d'Or award, it's surprising yet a reality. Now we can all look front for what this new season could give for young talents like Yamal and Mbappe if anyone of their two can be the next to win it by next year.

I see Ousmane Dembele success in winning the Ballon d'Or as being at the right place at the right time. Believe me this would have been Kylian Mbappe winning this award if he remained at PSG. But it is what it is and he has missed it. His exit at PSG gave room to the rise of Ousmane Dembele in the club. This was Ousmane Dembele whom many thought his career was over at Barcelona before he moved to french capital. Am so happy for him for him because his hard work paid off.

You should not take anything away from Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe has been at the club for a long time but he did not win anything.
I believe that Dembele deserved this award and this has nothing to do with Kylian Mbappe.
This is Dembele's Frist nomination and it is quite wonderful for him to win it, I think his story is uplifting and even Mbappe would be proud of him.

I share your opinion. Many even predicted that if Mbappé had stayed at PSG last season, they wouldn't have won UCL. Because Mbappe wasn't comfortable at PSG, and when PSG forced players to stay, it would have affected the team and even the dressing room. And don't forget, Mbappe at PSG has always been a mainstay. When the team played solely on Mbappe, PSG always failed in UCL. However since Mbappe left PSG, the PSG squad played more freely because there were no big players everyone played as a collective, which ultimately led to them winning UCL last season and Dembele winning this year's Ballon d'Or.

Yes. I also think Mbappe doesn't regret leaving PSG and he's certainly proud of Dembele's achievements with PSG. In fact I see Dembele winning the Ballon d'Or as motivation for Mbappe to chase the Ballon d'Or next year. If you look at Mbappe current performance with Madrid, it is not impossible that next year Mbappe can follow in Dembele's footsteps, provided that Mbappe must remain consistent with his current performance, which always scores goals.

[GbitG]

Well , Barcelona didn't want him anymore and Dembele didn't want to stay with Barcelona either so it was a win-win situation for both of them. However, in my opinion , Dembele is not a better player than Haaland , Salah ,  Yamal or even Raphina and this Balloon D'or won't change my mind haha.  Yea , he won it but in so many eyes he didn't deserve it but I personally think the stats pushed him to be the winner this year.

Hmmm, that's quite right!!!
Stats and figures push him to be the favorite candidate for the Ballon d'Or otherwise, he wouldn't deserve to be the winner because other players have much better records than him such as Yamal Jamal, Raphinha, etc. For me Raphinha was more deserving than him because if we see that his goal assists are higher than his. But anyway, now the Award has been given to him whether he is good or not, UEFA handed him a Ballon d'Or.

Let me tell you something funny. Now we can say Osman Dembele is better than Kylian Mbappe because he won the Ballon d'Or before him, and he even won the UCL title before him.

Poor Kylian Mbappe

[YUriy1991]

Well , Barcelona didn't want him anymore and Dembele didn't want to stay with Barcelona either so it was a win-win situation for both of them. However, in my opinion , Dembele is not a better player than Haaland , Salah ,  Yamal or even Raphina and this Balloon D'or won't change my mind haha.  Yea , he won it but in so many eyes he didn't deserve it but I personally think the stats pushed him to be the winner this year.

Hmmm, that's quite right!!!
Stats and figures push him to be the favorite candidate for the Ballon d'Or otherwise, he wouldn't deserve to be the winner because other players have much better records than him such as Yamal Jamal, Raphinha, etc. For me Raphinha was more deserving than him because if we see that his goal assists are higher than his. But anyway, now the Award has been given to him whether he is good or not, UEFA handed him a Ballon d'Or.

Let me tell you something funny. Now we can say Osman Dembele is better than Kylian Mbappe because he won the Ballon d'Or before him, and he even won the UCL title before him.

Poor Kylian Mbappe

When in Barcelona Ousmane Dembélé's game looked ordinary, but the right choice when he decided to leave Barcelona to join PSG, in Ligue 1 Ousmane Dembélé played so well under the direction of head coach Luis Enrique as well as in the Champions League PSG played in the final last season by successfully winning the competition making the Ballon d'Or title very deserved for him. Lamine Yamal is a very potential young player but this year is not his, the debate about who deserves to get the Ballon d'Or this year is not as tight as in previous years such as the era of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Every player is at the same level with an open opportunity to get the Ballon d'Or, as well as for Kylian Mbappé who plays for Real Madrid.

[AirtelBuzz]

Ballon d'Or top 10 as posted by Fabrizio Romano. Still wondering how 4 PSG players were able to make it to the top 10. But honestly, the four players namely Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha, Hakimi and Nuno Mendes really deserve the top 10 because this players have done exceptionally well in recent years and the most exciting display was in the Champions League games last season. Probably, this is a clear sign that the Ballon d'Or is going to PSG, because i will be surprised if after the 4 players appeared in the top 10 and none of them could win it. Ousmane Dembele has gotten most of the achievement that would qualify him to win the prestigious awards because winning the treble last season was a good boost for him in his football career but what if he doesn't win it as most people anticipated? will it trigger severe controversy?

It is not surprising that four PSG players made it into the top ten of the Ballon d'Or awards, as in my opinion the foundation of this team's performance was largely built around these players in the last UCL season. You may have noticed that three of PSG's four best players were not present at the awards ceremony held yesterday because they were involved in the match against Marseille yesterday. Only Ousmane Dembele was present at the ceremony and he received the award he deserved, so he must be congratulated as he is now a respected player among Parisians. We previously saw French player Karim Benzema win the honor and yesterday, Dembele became the second French player to win the Ballon d'Or for the first time, playing for PSG.

[l99l]

I can't understand what those who disliked the Ballon d'Or top 10 disliked. I think it was a good ranking.
Dembele was a player who was completely unpopular a few years ago, but after transferring to PSG, he transformed into a completely different player, showcasing all his talents.
Today, he's the player who won the Ballon d'Or. He also won the Champions League, and by winning the Champions League, the Ballon d'Or fulfilled every player's dream.

[Victorybit1]

I didn't really like this year's Ballon d'Or.
Dembele won the award because he was with PSG and PSG won the Champions League. I don't think he's any better than Raphinha. I don't think the Champions League title should be the biggest criterion for the Ballon d'Or. It used to be great if Messi won it, and Ronaldo won it too; no one would have thought about anything else, but these players, Raphinha and Dembele, will never come close.
Yamal is coming, and next year, Yamal will be the winner of the Ballon d'Or. Make a note of it now...

I don't even know what to tell you because the moment you said yamal is coming and made it certain that next year he will win it just made me laugh because from the side of world I don't think Lamine yamal is even better performing than the one time performing wonderful season that he had, there is one thing that set aside player from each other in the football world and that's consistency .

[EL MOHA]

I can't understand what those who disliked the Ballon d'Or top 10 disliked. I think it was a good ranking.
Dembele was a player who was completely unpopular a few years ago, but after transferring to PSG, he transformed into a completely different player, showcasing all his talents.
Today, he's the player who won the Ballon d'Or. He also won the Champions League, and by winning the Champions League, the Ballon d'Or fulfilled every player's dream.

This is a list base on vote and yes there was definitely going to be those who disagree with how the list is, personally I had issues with the list but not the winner, they were players I think should have been in the 30 man list and players that should have been rated higher than they were starting with Scot Mac Tomminay the Seria A MVP winner he should have been in the top 10 in my opinion. Then there is Pedri who to my surprise was outside the top 10 and most importantly Raphinha not even in the top Four after having more goals and assist contributions than the other top four rated players,

For me the Award should even have been between both Raphinha and Demeble because in my perspective Raphinha actually had a great season in times of numbers than Lamine Yamal, but let’s be honest with ourselves Barcelona actually weren’t pushing hard for him to win the award rather they prefer their academy product to clinching so that they can even use to prove why they think La Masia is the best. One thing that Barcelona did was to reduce the votes or campaigning for other candidates and focus only on Yamal because according to analysts it was this splitting of votes that affected Vinicius the previous year and that’s why we see the two Barcelona players Raphinha and Pedri having such poor rating

[Abdulzuruku01]

Ousmane Dembele has made history for his club PSG and himself as an individual for winning the best male players award popularised as the ballon d'Or. He deserves what he got at this time after many times of coming out in runner up positions. No one for sure would have believed that Mbappe would be behind Dembele in first to win the ballon d'Or award, it's surprising yet a reality. Now we can all look front for what this new season could give for young talents like Yamal and Mbappe if anyone of their two can be the next to win it by next year.

I see Ousmane Dembele success in winning the Ballon d'Or as being at the right place at the right time. Believe me this would have been Kylian Mbappe winning this award if he remained at PSG. But it is what it is and he has missed it. His exit at PSG gave room to the rise of Ousmane Dembele in the club. This was Ousmane Dembele whom many thought his career was over at Barcelona before he moved to french capital. Am so happy for him for him because his hard work paid off.

Kylian Mbappe played many years at PSG with big players, which I see as a great opportunity for him to win the Ballon d'Or. However, he didn't. Even if he's still playing for them, it's uncertain he'll win it, especially considering the squad PSG started last season with, I have a strong belief that no one expected them to win the Champions League, let alone consider dominating the Ballon d'Or.
I'm so excited for Ousmane Dembele, He helped his team achieve many glories, most remarkable of which was the Champions League trophy, a historic win for Paris Saint-Germain. He truly deserved recognition for his incredible contributions.

[Ryu_Ar1]

I didn't really like this year's Ballon d'Or.
Dembele won the award because he was with PSG and PSG won the Champions League. I don't think he's any better than Raphinha. I don't think the Champions League title should be the biggest criterion for the Ballon d'Or. It used to be great if Messi won it, and Ronaldo won it too; no one would have thought about anything else, but these players, Raphinha and Dembele, will never come close.
Yamal is coming, and next year, Yamal will be the winner of the Ballon d'Or. Make a note of it now...

Since the era of the two goats, the standard has indeed been too high due to the extraordinary abilities of Cristiano and Messi, which are very difficult for current players to match. However, when looking at who won, I think he deserves it because of his performance.
Dembele has regained his form at PSG after struggling at Barcelona, and I think his achievements this season are significantly better compared to last season, making this season seem a bit more reasonable to me.

What I don't understand is Pedri's position at number 11, as I believe he deserves a higher ranking.

As for Lamine Yamal, he's a good player but to win the Ballon d'Or with his current condition, he's still not ready in my opinion. We know his talent is extraordinary but that's not enough, and honestly from my personal perspective, I don't like his lifestyle and attitude even though that's outside the context.