Who will claim football’s biggest prize? The Ballon d’Or race heats up

Last Updated on 16 September 2025

The stage is set. In just a few days, the world’s greatest footballers will gather under the Parisian lights for the most coveted individual prize in the game, the Ballon d’Or.

Who will come out on top?

Will it be a teenage sensation from Barcelona lighting the world up?

Or could the stars of the treble winners from Paris Saint-Germain be rewarded? Here’s our ranking of the contenders.

5. Raphinha (FC Barcelona and Brazil)

Raphinha, the talisman of Barcelona’s spectacular campaign cutshort, anti-climatically, at the hands of Inter Milan.

As far as individual performances are concerned, Barca’s no.11 was on another level during the 2024/25 season. Raphinha carried the bulk of the weight for the Catalan club, scoring 34 goals and assisting a further 25 in 57 appearances across all competitions as per Transfermarkt.

In the Champions League, the Brazilian was unstoppable. He scored 13 goals and got 9 assists in 14 games, including a hat-trick against Bayern Munich.

4. Lamine Yamal (FC Barcelona and Spain)

The 18-year-old enjoyed a spectacular season for Barcelona, after helping Spain lift the Euro 2024.

Lamine Yamal’s numbers might not be on par with Raphinha but he was absolutely unplayable for the majority of the campaign. He still managed to score 18 goals and come up with 25 assists in 55 games. While also topping the list for most dribbles completed, as per Statmuse.

Given he’s still only a teenager and has his best years ahead of him, Yamal will be on the list of Ballon d’Or nominees many, many more times.

3. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC and Egypt)

Even by his own spectactularly high standards, Mohamed Salah produced a remarkable season of top-class performances.

By the end of the season, Salah’s numbers were being underappreciated given a slump in form, right at the backend of the campaign.

That happened mostly because of Liverpool’s exit from the Champions League and because they had already wrapped up the league title with quite a few games still to play.

A slow end to the season and losing to the eventual champions, PSG, in the round of 16, is a reason why Salah isn’t the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or.

Because as far as performances and numbers go, few can match Salah’s tally of 34 goals and 23 assists in only 52 games. In fact, no one in Premier League history has more contributions than Salah during the 2024/25 season.

More than numbers, Salah was single-handedly winning games for Liverpool and also won the PFA Player of the Year for a record third time.

2. Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal)

Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time in their history, and completed a historic treble.

One of the biggest reasons for their success was the stability of their midfield, which helped them outplay the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, and Inter Milan in the final.

The main man in their midfield was Vitinha, who pulled the strings, helping the Les Parisians complete a magnificent achievement.

More importantly, Vitinha was also a crucial part of the Portuguese squad that won the UEFA Nations League in the summer.

Historically, the Ballon d’Or considers achievements with club and country, so Vitinha has a great chance of winning the Ballon d’Or, especially after Rodri’s win in 2024.

1. Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain and France)

It really is hard to look past Ousmane Dembele for the Ballon d’Or. The best attacking player in the best team, who actually scored 35 goals and recorded a further 16 assists in all competitions.

The Ballon d’Or is kinder to attackers, historically. But even if it wasn’t, Dembele’s case for the prize is very strong.

The French attacker assisted two goals in the Champions League final, too, showing up in crunch moments throughout, grabbing the only goal of the game at Anfield against Liverpool, too.