BALLON D'OR
Ballon d'Or: Dembélé takes advantage of the World Cup to take the lead over Lamine
Published New:10/07/2025 - 00:30h
Updated New:8/08/2025 - 07:12h
Ousmane Dembélé can win the Ballon d'Or next Sunday with PSG. Will the FIFA tournament be the icing on the cake for the Frenchman to surpass Lamine Yamal?
Ousmane Dembélé shone again with Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final of the Club World Cup. The '10' scored his second goal of the tournament, which made it 2-0 and paved the way for Luis Enrique's side to thrash Real Madrid (4-0).
Although the 'Mosquito' missed the group stage of the tournament and only played half an hour in the round of 16 against Inter Miami (4-0), he was important in the quarter-finals against Bayern Munich, scoring the goal that sealed the victory (2-0) against the Bavarians.
Against Madrid, he was finally in the starting line-up and led the PSG rout, assisting Fabián Ruiz for the 1-0 and scoring the team's second goal in just nine minutes. Dembélé caused the mistakes of Raúl Asencio and Antonio Rüdiger which, finally, led to a comfortable victory for Luis Enrique's side.
Dembélé, going for a 'poker' with Paris that brings him closer to the Ballon d'Or
Now, Ousmane will face Chelsea in the Club World Cup final next Sunday, looking for an unprecedented 'poker' in European football and his fifth title of the season that could put him as a favourite for the Ballon d'Or.
Paris have already won everything in France (League, Cup and Super Cup), as well as the UEFA Champions League. With that, the Vernon native can take an important advantage in terms of honours over Lamine Yamal.
Thanks to his participation in the World Cup, Dembélé has 35 goals and 16 assists in 53 games of the 24/25 season. Lamine, on the other hand, has 20 goals and 23 assists in 56 appearances with FC Barcelona, winning the national treble with Hansi Flick's side.
Dembélé vs Lamine: this is how the race for the Ballon d'Or is going
However, the definition of the Ballon d'Or will depend on the criteria of the voters in the 2025 edition. If it is about current form, talent and individual performance, the Barça winger would have an advantage, as he closed the year in better form, something that was evident in the semi-final of the Nations League.
In the head-to-head between Spain and France, Lamine shone with a brace in the thrashing of 'Les Bleus' (5-4), where Dembélé was missing for 76 minutes. Beyond that, in terms of honours in the season, the Parisian '10' clearly has an advantage.
| Indicator | Lamine Yamal | Ousmane Dembélé |
|---|---|---|
| Matches played | 56 | 53 |
| Minutes played | 4.643 | 3.488 |
| Goals | 18 | 35 |
| Assists | 23 | 16 |
| Titles | 3 | 4 |
First, for winning the Champions League with Luis Enrique's side, adding 8 goals and 6 assists in 15 appearances in the tournament. If he wins the Club World Cup, with an outstanding performance in the final against Chelsea, the 'Mosquito' will take a key step towards his first Ballon d'Or.
In addition to Lamine and Dembélé, other players such as Raphinha, Pedri González, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes himself can be considered among the candidates for the award given annually by 'France Football', the latter two thanks to winning the Champions League and the Nations League with Portugal.
Of the four, the one with the best numbers is Rafa. The Brazilian closed the 24/25 season with 34 goals and 23 assists, i.e. 57 goals produced in 57 games. Only Mohamed Salah participated in an identical number of goals the previous year (the Egyptian scored the same number of goals and assists in 52 games).
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