Ousmane Dembele is the overwhelming favourite to be crowned the winner of the 2025 Ballon d’Or tonight.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward scored 35 goals in 53 games in the 2024/25 campaign to help his side to a Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double and their maiden Champions League crown.
PSG were surprisingly beaten in the Club World Cup final by Chelsea but Dembele is still the leading contender for the crown ahead of Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal.
The 28-year-old France international will be able to attend the glittering ceremony at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet after being ruled out of PSG’s game at Marseille due to a hamstring injury.
PSG team-mates Desire Doue and Joao Neves, who were also nominated for awards, are also injured but Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha will all be in action at the State Velodrome.
Yamal is second favourite with Kylian Mbappe, Raphinha and Mohamed Salah also expected to receive plenty of votes.
The women’s award is led by three Barcelona stars after the club’s domestic treble.
Aitana Bonmati has won the trophy in each of the last two years and will battle it out with team-mates Alexia Putellas and Claudia Pina.
Arsenal’s Alessia Russo is also a challenger after helping the Gunners to the Champions League title and playing a key role as England defended their European Championship crown.
What time does the Ballon d’Or get underway?
The ceremony starts at 8pm UK time and will be held at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
How can you watch the Ballon d’Or ceremony?
The event will not be broadcast live on TV in the UK but will stream for free on L’Équipe’s YouTube channel.
It will be hosted by Kate Scott and former Netherlands midfielder Ruud Gullit.
How does the voting for the Ballon d’Or work?
The 30-player shortlist for the main awards is voted for by a panel of journalists from France Football and L’Equipe.
One journalist from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings then votes for their top 10 from each list with each position afforded a certain number of points.
- First Place: 15 points
- Second Place: 12 points
- Third place: 10 points
- Fourth place: 8 points
- Fifth place: 7 points
- Sixth place: 5 points
- Seventh place: 4 points
- Eighth place: 3 points
- Ninth place: 2 points
- Tenth place: 1 point
Which players have won the award previously?
Men’s award:
2024: Rodri
2023: Lionel Messi
2022: Karim Benzema
2021: Lionel Messi
2019: Lionel Messi
Women’s award:
2024: Aitana Bonmati
2023: Aitana Bonmati
2022: Alexia Putellas
2021: Alexia Putellas
2019: Megan Rapinoe
Who was nominated for the Kopa Trophy awards?
Yamal was also included this category as he looks to retain the trophy he won last year.
Who was nominated for the Coach of the Year awards?
The Johan Cruyff Trophy for the best men’s coach of the year was dominated by club bosses in a year that didn’t feature any major international trophies.
Luis Enrique was shortlisted after guiding PSG to three trophies with an irresistible brand of football. They fell just short of another major crown, though, losing to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final, a result that saw Blues boss Enzo Maresca also make the list.
Hansi Flick, Antonio Conte and Arne Slot are included after winning their domestic leagues with Barcelona, Napoli and Liverpool respectively.
England’s Sarina Wiegman is favourite to land the women’s award for helping the Lionesses retain the European Championship crown. Wiegman’s side beat Spain on a penalty shot-out in the final.
Nominees for other awards
Women’s Club of the Year:
Men’s Club of the Year:
Men’s Yachine Trophy nominees for best goalkeeper:
Alisson (Liverpool)
David Raya (Arsenal)
Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)
Lucas Chevalier (Lille)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
Yann Sommer (Inter Milan)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid)
Women’s Yachine Trophy nominees for best goalkeeper:
Hannah Hampton (Chelsea)
Cata Coll (Barcelona)
Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC)
Chiamaka Nnadozie (Brighton)
Daphne van Domselaar (Arsenal)
