The 2025 Ballon d’Or is in the books with Ousmane Dembélé capturing the prize for the first time, becoming just the sixth French player to win the award.
Dembele was the tip of the Paris Saint-Germain spear that blitzed through French and European competitions including the club’s first-ever Champions League trophy. In other categories, Lamine Yamal became the first player to win two Kopa Trophies doing so in consecutive fashion, Gianluigi Donnarumma was recognized as the best goalkeeper and Viktor Gyökeres was named the best striker.
On the women’s side, Aitana Bonmatí captured a historic third-straight Ballon d’Or Féminin matching Lionel Messi as the only other player to win the Ballon d’Or three times in a row. Elsewhere, first-time winners were crowned for the Kopa, Yashin, and Gerd Müller awards in the women’s game as Vicky López, Hannah Hampton and Ewa Pajor were all recognized.
Looking at both the 2024 and 2025 shortlists, there was some major movement for numerous players. Let’s take a look at the biggest risers and fallers for the men’s 2025 Ballon d’Or.
