The 2025 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony were held Monday in France, and home nation star Ousmane Dembele was joined by Spain’s Aitana Bonmati in winning the top honors.
Dembele takes the crown from Manchester City star Rodri, who missed most of the season with an ACL injury.
The only other active men’s winners were not finalists for the honor: Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
MORE — Men’s all-time Ballon d’Or winners | Women’s winners
As for the women’s honor, Bonmati surprised countrywomen and Champions League winner Mariona Caldentey to become just the third player and first women to win three-straight Ballons d’Or.
The top 10 did not feature an American, as Lindsey Heaps (Lyon) and Emily Fox (Arsenal) finished 25th and 26th.
Here are the winners as they were announced on Monday.
2025 Ballon d’Or LIVE updates as they happened
Ballon d’Or winner is Ousmane Dembele
Ousmane Dembele! He is being lauded in song by the crowd in his home country.
Emcee Kate Scott does a brilliant job in calling Dembele’s mother to the stage after the player became emotional while honoring her.
Just a cool, cool moment.
Here’s the new list of all-time Ballon d’Or winners.
Ronaldinho on hand to award men’s Ballon d’Or, 10th through 3rd revealed
10. Nuno Mendes
9. Gigio Donnarumma
8. Cole Palmer
7. Kylian Mbappe
6. Achraf Hakimi
5. Raphinha
4. Mohamed Salah
3. Vitinha
So it’ll be either Ousmane Dembele or Lamine Yamal.
Ballon d’Or Feminin winner is Aitana Bonmati!
Bonmati, again.
Caldentey’s Champions League win with Arsenal was not enough, and Bonmati is the first three-time winner of the Ballon d’Or Feminin.
Get more info here.
Ballon d’Or Feminin reveals 10th through 3rd place finishers
Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta is out to present the women’s honor. Is that a clue?
10th place is Hannah Hampton.
9th is Lucy Bronze.
8th is Ewa Pajor.
7th is Leah Williamson.
6th is Patricia Guijarro
5th goes to Chloe Kelly.
4th is Putellas
3rd is Alessia Russo.
It’ll be down to Mariona Caldentey and Bonmati.
Socrates Award up next
This honor goes to a top humanitarian player or organization in the sport.
The winners are the Xana Foundation and it is accepted by Sira Martinez.
Xana Martinez is the daughter of Luis Enrique and Elena Cullell, and she passed away from cancer at age 9.
The Xana Foundation was designed to “support children and adolescents suffering from serious illnesses in vulnerable situations, along with their families.”
The Gerd Muller Trophies go to….
The men’s and women’s strikers of the year go to Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres, then of Sporting Lisbon and now of Arsenal, and Polish finisher Ewa Pajor of Barcelona.
Here’s more on the incredible season from Gyokeres that earned him a move to Arsenal.
Awards pause to honor Diogo Jota
The late Liverpool and Portugal star is being honored with a video.
Men’s Yashin Trophy goes to….
Gianluigi Donnarumma of Italy and Manchester City (played last season with PSG).
Here’s more on his honor.
Women’s Yashin Trophy goes to…
Hannah Hampton of England and Chelsea.
Lev Yashin Trophy up now
Named after the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or, this honors the top men’s and women’s goalkeepers.
This is the first women’s edition of the award, and the nominees are Ann-Katrin Berger, Cata Coll, Hannah Hampton, Chiamaka Nnadozie, and Daphne van Domselaar.
The men’s nominees are Alisson, Yassine Bounou, Lucas Chevalier, Thibaut Courtois, Gigi Donnarumma, Emiliano Martinez, Jan Oblak, David Raya, Matz Sels, and Yann Sommer.
Men’s Johan Cruyff trophy goes to…
Luis Enrique of PSG, who is currently managing PSG against Marseille in Ligue 1.
Enrique has led Barcelona and PSG to the UEFA Champions League, as a former Barca (and Real Madrid) player fittingly takes an honor named for Cruyff.
England boss wins women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy
A deserving winner in England boss Sarina Wiegman, who led the Three Lions to success at the EURO for the second-straight tournament.
Johan Cruyff Trophy is next
The men’s nominees are Antonio Conte, Luis Enrique, Hansi Flick, Enzo Maresa, and Arne Slot.
The women’s nominees are Sonia Bompastor, Arthur Elias, Justin Madugu, Renee Slegers, and Sarina Wiegman.
Women’s Kopa Trophy — Best U-21 player
The winner is… Vicky Lopez of Barcelona. The 19-year-old Spanish international is Madrid-born.
Men’s Kopa Trophy — Best U-21 player
Lamine Yamal wins and retains Kopa Trophy — Best men’s U-21 player
The nominees are Desire Doue of PSG, Estevao Willian of Chelsea (via Palmeiras), Joao Neves of PSG, Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, and Kenan Yildiz of Juventus.
It’s little surprise that Yamal is the winner, as he’s the youngest player still up for the Ballon d’Or itself. He won the award last year as well.
Big changes in Ballon d’Or Feminin top 10, too
Bonmati could win her third-straight honor, and she’s joined by Putellas and countrywoman Caldentey as returning top 10 players.
USWNT stars Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, and Lindsey Heaps dip out of the top 10, with only Heaps keeping her place as a finalist.
Caroline Graham Hansen, Salma Paralluelo, and Marie-Antoinette Katoto are also out.
Who finished behind Rodri last season?
Only two of last season’s top 10 remain alive for this season’s men’s Ballon d’Or.: Kylian Mbappe finished sixth last season and Lamine Yamal eighth.
Vini Jr, Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martinez, and Harry Kane were all finalists this season, while Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos dropped off the list along with 2024 winner Rodri.
Premier League players final finishing spot
29, Florian Wirtz, Liverpool
28. Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool
27. Declan Rice, Arsenal
26. Erling Haaland, Manchester City
22. Alexis Mac Allister, Liverpool
15. Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal
TBD: Cole Palmer Chelsea
TBD: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manchester City
TBD: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool
Ten men left
France Football have been knocking contenders off their short list all day, with Viktor Gyokeres and Harry Kane among those whittled down over the past few hours.
The 10 players remaining are:
Ousmane Dembélé (France, PSG)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy, PSG/Manchester City)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, PSG)
Kylian Mbappé (France, Real Madrid)
Nuno Mendes (Portugal, PSG)
Cole Palmer (England, Chelsea)
Raphinha (Brazil, Barcelona)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool)
Vitinha (Portugal, PSG)
Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona)
Top Ten women’s finalists
Five England stars, four Spaniards, and a Polish player can still hope to be crowned Ballon d’Or Feminin winner on Monday.
Barcelona’s Bonmati and Putellas have won twice before, while club teammate Ewa Pajor and Patri Guijarro are also in the top 10.
England’s Lucy Bronze, Hannah Hampton, Chloe Kelly, Alessio Russo, and Leah Williamson are still alive for the honor, and Arsenal star Mariona Caldentey rounds out the list.
No USWNT player higher than 25
Arsenal’s Emily Fox is named as 25th, one spot ahead of Lyon’s Lindsey Heaps.
Relatively low show of respect for Emma Hayes’ team.
There are a few NWSL connections on the list: Kansas City Current’s Temwa Chawinga (Malawi) is 17th, Sofia Cantore of the Washington Spirit (Italy) is 24th, and Orlando Pride duo Barbra Banda (Zambia) and Marta (Brazil) are 14th and 12th, respectively.
Read the full article here
