Featured Image Credit: Ballon d'Or
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Football, Ousmane Dembele, Lamine Yamal
Marcus Chan
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Football, Ousmane Dembele, Lamine Yamal
At long last, the winner of the 2025 Ballon d'Or award has been announced.
After months of speculation, the best player in world football was crowned during a star-studded ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France.
Heading into the event, Paris Saint Germain winger Ousmane Dembele was the bookies' favourite to lift the prestigious trophy.
Meanwhile, the likes of Lamine Yamal, Mohamed Salah and Raphinha were also in the running.
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Ahead of the ceremony, players who finished in 30th place up to 11th were announced, including the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Harry Kane, Desire Doue and Pedri.
The Kopa Trophy was again won by Barcelona superstar Yamal, ahead of the likes of Estevao, Desire Doue, Kenan Yildiz and Joao Neves.
Manchester City star Gianluigi Donnarumma and England's Hannah Hampton were named the best goalkeepers in the world.
England manager Sarina Wiegman took home the women's Johan Cruyff award, with Luis Enrique winning the men's version.
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As the ceremony reached its climax, the two big awards were handed out, with Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati winning the women's award for the third year running.
Meanwhile, the men's award belonged to PSG star Dembele, who pipped Yamal to the illustrious trophy.
After losing out to Dembele, Yamal was gracious as he was seen smiling and clapping before the pair also shared an embrace.
The Frenchman was greeted with chants as he walked onto the stage to become the latest player to lift the Ballon d'Or award, following in the footsteps of Rodri, who won last year.
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After being handed the trophy by Brazil legend Ronaldinho, Dembele said: "I have received this award from one of the biggest legends of all time, I can't believe this. This is an award thanks to the collective. I want to thank all my teammates.
"I want to thank FC Barcelona, the club of my dreams. I played with Lionel Messi, I want to thank him too, I learned so much from him."