Dembélé Crowns a Historic Season with the Ballon d’Or Prize

After leading Paris Saint-Germain to a domestic treble and their first-ever UEFA Champions League triumph, Ousmane Dembélé was awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or prize by France Football, becoming the sixth Frenchman in history to claim the honor.

Dembélé, who netted 35 goals for PSG in a season that saw him step up as the direct successor to Kylian Mbappé following the latter’s move to Real Madrid, added his name to an illustrious list of French winners: Michel Platini (three times), Raymond Kopa, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane, and Karim Benzema. 

He succeeds last year’s winner, Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri, with this year’s main competition coming from Spanish wonderkid Lamine Yamal — who once again claimed the Raymond Kopa Trophy for Best U21 Player, becoming the first to win it twice.

For the first time, voting was based solely on seasonal achievements rather than the calendar year, with one journalist representing each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations. 

Dembélé said: “Thank you, I have no words. It was an incredible season with Paris Saint-Germain. I thank the club for signing me in 2023, and my coach Luis Enrique, who is like a father to me. We won almost everything. This individual award is for the team—we fought together for the Champions League.”

Without a doubt, Dembélé fully deserved his award, having successfully filled the void left by Kylian Mbappé’s move to Real Madrid by scoring 35 goals for Paris Saint-Germain. Meanwhile, his former teammate, Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, claimed the Lev Yashin Trophy for Best Goalkeeper for the second time after his first in 2021, while Spaniard Luis Enrique won the Best Coach award following his exceptional season with PSG.

As expected, Enrique succeeded Italian Carlo Ancelotti in receiving the Johan Cruyff Award for Best Coach after leading his team to a historic achievement, while Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman was named Best Women’s Coach after guiding England to the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 title.

As for the Gerd Müller Award for Best Goalscorer at both club and international level, it went to Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres, currently at Arsenal and formerly at Sporting Lisbon, after netting 63 goals in 63 matches, including 9 with his national team.

Bonmatí Makes History in Women’s Ballon d’Or

As for the women’s award, voting was carried out by representatives from the top 50 ranked countries, and it was claimed by Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí for the third consecutive year after edging out her former Barcelona teammate and compatriot Mariona Caldentey.

Bonmatí became the first player ever to win the Ballon d’Or Féminin three times, surpassing her Barça teammate Alexia Putellas, who won it in 2021 and 2022. This achievement came despite losing both the UEFA Women’s Champions League final to Arsenal and their star Caldentey, as well as the Women’s Euro final with Spain against England.

Although Bonmatí, who lifted the 2023 Women’s World Cup with Spain, failed to secure her fourth Champions League title after those two defeats, she still managed to capture a domestic treble with Barcelona, winning the league, the cup, and the Super Cup. This gave her the decisive edge over Caldentey, who had left Barcelona in the summer of 2024 to join Arsenal.

The award for Best Women’s Goalkeeper went to Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton, after she played a key role in England’s Euro 2025 triumph.