Ballon d'Or 2025: Donnarumma v Dembélé and Yamal, Conte eyes Cruyff award | OneFootball

It’s Ballon d’Or 2025 day. This evening, starting at 8 PM, France Football will reveal the successor to Rodri, winner of the 2024 edition. It will be a ceremony full of anticipation and uncertainty, with many big names and possible surprises.

Ballon d’Or 2025: Donnarumma challenges Dembélé and Yamal. Conte and Maresca in the running for the Cruyff Award

Donnarumma dreams of making history

Among the candidates is also Gianluigi Donnarumma, who dreams of becoming the second goalkeeper in history—after Lev Yashin—to win the Ballon d’Or. The former PSG player, who recently moved to Manchester City, will have to contend for the title with two exceptional opponents:

Ousmane Dembélé, the favorite thanks to the Champions League won with PSG;

Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s talent destined to become one of the symbols of world football.

The list of 30 also includes familiar faces from Serie A such as Lautaro Martinez and Denzel Dumfries (Inter) and Scott McTominay (Napoli), as well as former Napoli star Kvaratskhelia.

Serie A also in the spotlight for other awards

In addition to the Ballon d’Or, Italians and Serie A stars can hope for collateral awards:

Johan Cruyff Award (best coach): among the candidates are Antonio Conte, Serie A champion with Napoli, and Enzo Maresca, who won the Conference League and Club World Cup with Chelsea. Also in the running are Luis Enrique (PSG), Hansi Flick (Barcelona), and Arne Slot (Liverpool).

Kopa Trophy (best U21): all eyes on Kenan Yildiz, Juventus’s young talent.

Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper): besides Donnarumma, there’s also Yann Sommer from Inter. The list also includes Alisson (Liverpool), Bounou (Al Hilal), Courtois (Real Madrid), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Oblak (Atletico Madrid), David Raya (Arsenal), Chevalier (PSG), Sels (Nottingham Forest).

Favorites and notable absentees

The number one favorite for the Ballon d’Or remains Dembélé, followed by Mbappé, Haaland, Bellingham, and Yamal. Also worth mentioning is the young Désiré Doué, the rising star of Rennes.

Surprisingly, Simone Inzaghi is absent from the candidates for the Cruyff Award, despite being a Champions League finalist with Inter and finishing second in the league, and now managing Al Hilal.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.