France Football has officially announced that the complete list of nominees for the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards will be revealed on August 7, ahead of the highly anticipated ceremony scheduled for September 22 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
As has become tradition, the awards will honour excellence in both men’s and women’s football. Alongside the main Ballon d’Or accolades, nominees will also be named for the Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), Kopa Trophy (best U-21 player), and the Gerd Müller Trophy (top scorer of the season).
The selection process will once again involve a global panel of sports journalists. Voters from the top 100 nations in the FIFA Men’s Rankings will participate in the men’s vote, while journalists from the top 50 nations will vote for the women’s award. Each voter will select their top 10 players in order of merit, with points awarded accordingly. The player with the highest cumulative points will claim football’s most prestigious individual honour.
With less than three months to the gala night, several football stars are already in the spotlight. Leading the 2025 Ballon d’Or power rankings are Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele and Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal. Both players delivered standout campaigns for club and country, making them frontrunners in a crowded field of contenders.
Dembele, in particular, enjoyed a career-best season. The French winger registered 35 goals and 15 assists while playing a pivotal role in PSG’s historic Champions League triumph, along with domestic success in Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, and the Trophée des Champions.
Yamal, just 17, has dazzled Spanish football fans with his flair and maturity. He contributed 21 goals and 26 assists, helping Barcelona secure a domestic treble that included the La Liga title, Copa del Rey, and Supercopa.
While Dembele and Yamal currently lead the conversation, several other football stars are poised to make a strong case:
- Raphinha (Barcelona): 39 goals and 25 assists across all competitions, a key figure in Barcelona’s treble-winning season.
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): 36 goals and 24 assists, leading Liverpool to the Premier League title under a new managerial era.
- Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid): Despite scoring 45 goals and assisting seven times, Mbappé’s hopes have been slightly dented by Real Madrid’s late-season struggles in Europe.
- Rodri (Manchester City): Last year’s winner remains a solid candidate following another influential season with both club and country.
With Euro 2024 and the Copa América set to conclude before the Ballon d’Or voting window closes, performances on the international stage may heavily influence final votes. As always, success in major competitions such as the UEFA Champions League also remains a crucial factor.
As the football world awaits the release of the nominees on August 7, the race for the 2025 Ballon d’Or promises to be one of the most competitive and unpredictable in recent years.
