Top contenders for the 2025 Ballon d'Or 🏆 | OneFootball

This Monday, France Football magazine will present the award for the best player of the 2024/25 season, and six footballers are the ones with the most chances.

This Monday, France Football magazine will present the Golden Ball for the 2024/25 season, which in addition to considering the regular tournaments will have the addition of the Club World Cup won by Chelsea. Within this list, there are several players who have an advantage due to their great performance, and here we review the main candidates to win the award.

Ousmane Dembélé from Paris Saint-Germain

The French forward had the best season of his career under Luis Enrique, who took him out of the attack bands and made him play as a center forward, and with Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on his sides they dominated French football winning the Ligue 1 and the French Cup. In addition, they lifted the Champions League with an unforgettable 5-0 against Inter in the great final in Munich.

The Parisian team was very close to closing a perfect year with the Club World Cup, but they fell 3-0 against Chelsea and finished runners-up. Regarding his individual performance, the Mosquito scored 35 goals and gave 16 assists in 53 matches, making him the top candidate to win the Golden Ball.

Lamine Yamal from Barcelona

The young Spaniard dazzled the football world again after a 2023/24 season that ended winning the European Championship with his national team. This time, he led Barcelona in the three competitions they played, winning the Spanish League and the King's Cup, in addition to reaching the Champions League semi-finals and lifting the Spanish Super Cup.

He was also very close to winning another title with La Roja, but Spain lost the Nations League final against Portugal by 5-3 in the penalty shootout, after drawing 2-2 in the 120 minutes of play.

Together with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, he formed a lethal trident where the three complemented each other in each attack, and that's why they were the highest scoring team in the Spanish championship with 102 goals in favor. In the 55 matches he played this season, Yamal scored 18 goals and provided 25 assists.

Kylian Mbappé from Real Madrid

After several years of waiting, in mid-2024 the Frenchman signed with the Merengue and fulfilled one of his great dreams. Mbappé arrived with the goal of winning the Champions, but during his first months he did not show a good level, and as the team did not accompany him they ended up playing the playoff phase against Manchester City.

There they clearly imposed themselves and in the round of 16 they eliminated Atlético de Madrid on penalties, but in the quarterfinals they were thrashed by Arsenal with a global score of 1-5. At the same time, they lost La Liga to Barcelona, who also won the King's Cup final 3-2.

However, Mbappé's individual season was historic for him because it was the highest scoring of his entire career, scoring 44 goals in 59 matches in addition to giving 5 assists. This made him win the Golden Boot of the year, and his numbers make him a candidate despite not accompanying those marks with titles.

Vitinha from Paris Saint-Germain

Like Dembélé, the midfielder won the treble with PSG and was one step away from lifting the Club World Cup, so it is not strange that his name appears on the list. Luis Enrique found his place in the midfield and transformed him into a key midfielder for the team's functioning.

The Portuguese became one of the best midfielders in the world -if not the best- and also won a title with the Portugal national team, the Nations League. In 59 matches played during the season, Vitinha scored 8 goals and provided 5 assists.

Raphinha from Barcelona

The Brazilian winger had the best season of his career scoring 34 goals and providing 25 assists in 57 matches, in addition to scoring 13 goals in 14 Champions League matches. In the Spanish League he also had a great scoring quota that allowed Barça to lift the domestic title.

As mentioned earlier with Yamal, Raphinha was two matches away from lifting the treble, but the fall with Inter in Milan deprived the culé team from reaching the Champions League final. Perhaps his only weak point was the Brazil national team, but his outstanding level with the blaugrana shirt puts him on the podium of the great candidates.

Mohamed Salah from Liverpool

The forward was the great figure of the Reds on the way to a new Premier League, where he played the 38 matches of the season scoring 29 goals and 18 assists, although his best level was seen in the first half of the year with 17 goals. In the second half he dropped a bit but he was a key piece in Liverpool, and that's why he won the MVP award of the English league.

However, in Europe he was not up to the previous ones and that will play against him at the time of the final decision. The English team was the best team in the first phase of the Champions and was a great candidate for the title, but they fell to Paris Saint-Germain -future champion- in Anfield for the round of 16 and it gives the feeling that he will not be able to compete with Dembélé, Yamal or Vitinha.

The 30 nominees for the 2025 Golden Ball

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