Ryan Babel makes Ballon d’Or prediction Liverpool fans will love after latest Mo Salah snub | OneFootball

Ryan Babel has made a confident prediction regarding Liverpool and the Ballon d’Or after a disappointing night for the Reds at the 2025 ceremony on Monday night.

Despite the Merseyside club having seven nominees across four different categories, they left empty-handed as Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele scooped the main prize ahead of Lamine Yamal, with Vitinha third in the voting and Mo Salah having to settle for fourth (BBC Sport).

It means that, in spite of the Egyptian winning two Premier League titles and the Champions League in eight years at Anfield whilst scoring 248 goals along the way, he still hasn’t won the most coveted individual accolade in world football.

Babel predicts Liverpool winner of Ballon d’Or by 2028

Michael Owen remains the only Ballon d’Or recipient to have played for Liverpool in the award-winning year, and that was way back in 2001, but Babel is convinced that it won’t be much longer before that yawning gap is finally bridged.

Taking to X on Tuesday afternoon, the former Reds attacker has predicted: ‘Within 3 years, a Liverpool player will take the Ballon d’Or home’.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Babel’s prediction seems plausible if Liverpool keep winning big

With PSG winning the treble last season, it came as no surprise that they dominated the male categories at the 2025 Ballon d’Or – collective success is often the springboard for a player to be recognised with individual accolades.

As reigning Premier League champions and early pace-setters in the current campaign, Liverpool appear well-placed to establish an era of dominance in English football which might also be topped up with Champions League glory, a competition in which they’re among the favourites for 2025/26.

If Arne Slot’s side retain their domestic title and also become European champions next May, logically some Reds players will be among the leading candidates at the Ballon d’Or in 12 months’ time, particularly if they go on to excel at (or even win) the World Cup in North America.

Could next year finally be the year that Salah gets the award his consistent brilliance has deserved? Could Virgil van Dijk go one better than when he came second to Lionel Messi in 2019? Could a younger star like Ryan Gravenberch be in the reckoning if he maintains his early season standards?

Babel’s prediction of a Liverpool winner of the Ballon d’Or before 2028 seems plausible, especially if the team enjoys standout collective success in the coming seasons.