BREAKING: Ousmane Dembélé Wins Ballon D’or 2025 Award

BREAKING: Ousmane Dembélé Wins Ballon D’or 2025 Award

France international and Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembélé has been named the winner of the 2025 Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual honour.

The announcement was made on Monday night at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where the sport’s biggest names gathered to celebrate the game’s finest performers over the past year.

Dembélé, 28, edged Barcelona’s teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal to claim the award, succeeding Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri, who won in 2024.

The ex-Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona star, part of France’s 2018 World Cup-winning squad, netted 35 goals across all competitions as PSG clinched a domestic league-and-cup double and captured the Champions League for the first time in their history.

“I really don’t have the words. It was an incredible season with PSG,” said an emotional Dembele, who said his club coach Luis Enrique had been “like a father”.

“It is an individual trophy but it was really the collective that won it,” added Dembele, who was one of nine members of the triumphant PSG team from last season nominated for the prize.

“The Ballon d’Or has not really been an objective for me in my career but I worked hard for the team to win the Champions League.”

Just a few hours ago, 18-year-old Yamal secured the Kopa Trophy for the best under-21 player for the second consecutive year.