There was a large Paris Saint-Germain presence in the voting for the 2025 Ballon d’Or with nine members of Luis Enrique’s Champions League-winning squad nominated.
Ousmane Dembele is the favourite to win the award after a wonderful year in which he played a major role in PSG’s continental success, backed up by a domestic double, with 35 goals in 53 games in all competitions.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Desire Doue, Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha – indeed, almost all of the regular starting XI – were listed.
Liverpool’s impressive title-winning campaign under Arne Slot was also recognised with Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Alexis Mac Allister nominated, as well as Anfield new-boy Florian Wirtz.
England internationals Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Cole Palmer and Declan Rice were included, as was Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay following his stunning debut season in Italy with Serie A champions Napoli.
Vinicius Jr, who lost out in controversial fashion to Rodri last year, is again on the list, as is Real Madrid team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
Spanish league and cup winners Barcelona are represented by Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha.
Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyokeres, who could fight it out to be top scorers in the Premier League this season were on the 30-player list.
Two-time defending winner Aitana Bonmati was again shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or Feminin crown, as was 39-year-old Brazilian Marta, who won the FIFA World Player of the Year Award six times.
Five members of England’s victorious European Championship squad also made the cut: captain Leah Williamson, Chloe Kelly, Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze and Alessia Russo.
How does the voting for the Ballon d’Or work?
The 30-player shortlist for the main awards is voted for by a panel of journalists from France Football and L’Equipe.
One journalist from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings then votes for their top 10 from each list with each position afforded a certain number of points.
- First Place: 15 points
- Second Place: 12 points
- Third place: 10 points
- Fourth place: 8 points
- Fifth place: 7 points
- Sixth place: 5 points
- Seventh place: 4 points
- Eighth place: 3 points
- Ninth place: 2 points
- Tenth place: 1 point
Which players have won the award previously?
Men’s award:
2024: Rodri
2023: Lionel Messi
2022: Karim Benzema
2021: Lionel Messi
2019: Lionel Messi
Women’s award:
2024: Aitana Bonmati
2023: Aitana Bonmati
2022: Alexia Putellas
2021: Alexia Putellas
2019: Megan Rapinoe
Who was nominated for the Kopa Trophy awards?
Yamal was also included this category as he looks to retain the trophy he won last year.
Read all about it here…
Who was nominated for the Coach of the Year awards?
The Johan Cruyff Trophy for the best men’s coach of the year was dominated by club bosses in a year that didn’t feature any major international trophies.
Luis Enrique was shortlisted after guiding PSG to three trophies with an irresistible brand of football. They fell just short of another major crown, though, losing to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final, a result that saw Blues boss Enzo Maresca also make the list.
Hansi Flick, Antonio Conte and Arne Slot are included after winning their domestic leagues with Barcelona, Napoli and Liverpool respectively.
England’s Sarina Wiegman is favourite to land the women’s award for helping the Lionesses retain the European Championship crown. Wiegman’s side beat Spain on a penalty shot-out in the final.
Nominees for other awards
Women’s Club of the Year:
Men’s Club of the Year:
Men’s Yachine Trophy nominees for best goalkeeper:
Alisson (Liverpool)
David Raya (Arsenal)
Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)
Lucas Chevalier (Lille)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
Yann Sommer (Inter Milan)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid)
Women’s Yachine Trophy nominees for best goalkeeper:
Hannah Hampton (Chelsea)
Cata Coll (Barcelona)
Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC)
Chiamaka Nnadozie (Brighton)
Daphne van Domselaar (Arsenal)
When and where is the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony?
The ceremony will be a glitzy affair, staged at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on September 22.
