Ousmane Dembélé could not finish 2024/25 with the Club World Cup title. Although he closed the tournament with a couple of goals and an assist in four matches, the 'Mosquito' was left without the trophy after completing a fairly discreet match against Chelsea (3-0).
The 'blue' team resolved the final with a double by Cole Palmer and another goal by Joao Pedro before the break. Although 'Dembélé' was very close to discounting in the 52nd with a shot that Robert Sánchez sent to the corner with a great save, Paris Saint-Germain ended up falling with a crash, even stirring up a brawl after the end of the match.
In that sense, the battle for the Ballon d'Or is rebalancing. 'Dembouz' had an extra advantage over Lamine Yamal thanks to the dispute of the World Cup, but an injury prevented him from playing the group stage. His goals in the quarterfinals against Bayern (2-0) and 'semis' against Real Madrid (4-0) seemed to lead to another coronation with those of Luis Enrique, but Chelsea buried this illusion.
Dembélé and Lamine, who is the big favorite for the 2025 Ballon d'Or?
Thus, Ousmane closed 24/25 with 35 goals and 16 assists in 54 matches, reaping 4 titles with Paris. The Vernon native was MVP and Pichichi of Ligue 1 with 21 goals, while in the Champions League he was also chosen as the best player of the tournament after giving a couple of assists in the final against Inter (5-0).
Yamal, meanwhile, scored 18 goals and 23 assists in 56 matches with Barça. The winger, in his second full season with the first team, won La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League, in addition to reaching the 'semis' of Champions League. The Mataró native entered the ideal XI of the tournament with only 17 years and was the leading assist provider of LaLiga (13).
| Indicator | Lamine Yamal | Ousmane Dembélé |
|---|---|---|
| Matches played | 56 | 54 |
| Minutes played | 4.643 | 3.578 |
| Goals | 18 | 35 |
| Assists | 23 | 16 |
| Titles | 3 | 4 |
In Barça, Pedri González and Raphinha are also candidates for the Ballon d'Or. The Brazilian was the MVP of LaLiga 24/25 and led the season in terms of direct participations in goals (57), after adding 34 goals and 23 assists in 57 matches.
Only Mohamed Salah (champion and Pichichi of the Premier League) had a similar production the previous year. From Paris, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes are emerging as possible finalists for the award given by 'France Football', having added the Nations League to their record with Portugal.
The key dates for the 2025 Ballon d'Or
The nominations for the 13 categories of the 2025 Ballon d'Or will be announced on Wednesday, August 13, while the official ceremony will take place on Monday, September 22 at the Théatre du Chatelet in Paris.
In the previous edition, Lamine Yamal took the Kopa Trophy for the Best Young Player on the planet and made history as the youngest nominee in history.
Can the Rocafonda native become the third Spaniard to win the award? In 2024, Rodrigo Hernández emulated Luis Suárez Miramontes (1960) as the only international players with La Roja worthy of the distinction. Luis, in addition, did it with the Barça shirt.
- 👉Follow all the news of the 2025 Ballon d'Or in FCBN!