France and Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele has been awarded the men's Ballon d’Or, after a stellar 2024-2025 season with PSG, where he was a key figure in the team’s Champions League victory, the first in the club's history. He also helped his team secure a French league and cup double. Dembele beat Barcelona and Spain's Lamine Yamal to the prize.
The forward scored 35 goals and provided 16 assists in 53 appearances, and was one of nine PSG players nominated for the award. Upon receiving the trophy, he credited his success to the collective efforts of his team. "It is an individual trophy, but it was really the collective that won it," further adding that his club coach, Luis Enrique, had been "like a father."
The ceremony, held on September 22, 2025, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, saw various other notable awards presented. Lamine Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the best player under 21 for the second consecutive year. Goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hannah Hampton took home the Yashin Trophies.
Other winners included Aitana Bonmatí, who won the Women’s Ballon d’Or, and coaches Luis Enrique and Sarina Wiegman, who received the Johan Cruyff coaching awards. Viktor Gyökeres claimed the Gerd Müller top-scorer honours with PSG and Arsenal named as Clubs of the Year. Luis Enrique's Xana Foundation was honored with the Socrates Award.
Dembele, who became the first Frenchman to win the prize since Karim Benzema in 2022, stated that winning the Ballon d'Or was never a personal objective for him. He said that while the individual award was "magnificent," he was focused on helping his team win the Champions League. When asked if the accolade was the "people's Ballon d'Or," a description once used by Benzema, Dembele replied, "Benzema is the people’s Ballon d’Or, the first one, and I am the second."
