There is a very simple reason why Ousmane Dembélé won the Ballon d’Or by a landslide.
The award is not automatically about the best player, but the player who’s had the best year. Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah quicken the pulse, and enjoy the backing of passionate fan-bases, but neither of these fine entertainers delivered a year as good and successful as Dembélé did with Paris Saint-Germain. That’s why I voted for him.
Dembélé finished with 1,380 points, 321 ahead of second-placed Yamal. Of the 100 top spots awarded by Ballon d’Or jurors, Dembélé received 73 to Yamal’s 11. The other 16 went to Vitinha (6 times), Salah (4), Achraf Hakimi (3) and one each for Kylian Mbappé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Scott McTominay.
With no World Cup or European Championships in the period under review, August 1 2024 to August 1 2025, the Champions League was always likely to provide the showcase for the star acclaimed as having had the best year. Dembélé’s displays in the Champions League made it his year. Eight goals, and six assists, including winners away at Liverpool and Arsenal, led to Dembélé being named Champions League Player of the Season by the UEFA technical observer group. This was L’Année Dembélé, Ballon d’Or incoming.
The award is decided by a journalist from each of the 100 top-ranked footballing nations. I’ve been covering football since 1986, and a Ballon d’Or juror since 2006. I take the 30-man shortlist of players “curated” by experts from France Football, the meticulous organisers, and study videos from YouTube with an open notebook and an open mind. I go back through notes of covering players during the season. I assess the details on each nominee sent by France Football and other data I favour. Lists of players’ goals and assists need context: did their contribution come in a pressure moment? That gives better insight into a nominee’s character and influence on a game. It’s a lengthy business assessing contenders, easily a day holed up in my study. It’s a huge honour to be a juror.
The Ballon d'Or Voting Criteria
The best player in the world. 2025 Ballon d'Or winner.
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) September 22, 2025
Ousmane Dembele. pic.twitter.com/4mPRAtpx7g
Always in the forefront of any juror’s mind is the organisers’ three main criteria: “individual performances, decisive and impressive character; team performances and achievements; and class and fair play.”
Many times in my period as a juror it has been about which of the two best players in the world, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, had the best year. Messi won eight Ballons d’Or, Ronaldo five (from 18 nominations) and it was incredibly tight some years, causing plenty of comment to flow from the pair’s many followers on social media.
It all comes down to the best year. In 2006, I backed Fabio Cannavaro. The Italian defender was not the best player on planet football at the time—Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho or Zinedine Zidane were— but Cannavaro had the best year with his performances for Juventus and for Italy in winning the World Cup.
In 2018, I voted for Luka Modrić not as reward for a decade of excellence but for a prodigious 12 months, winning the Champions League with Real Madrid and driving Croatia (population 3.8 million) to the World Cup final in Moscow. It was Modrić’s year, just as it was with Rodri in 2024 with his commanding displays for Manchester City’s title winners and Spain’s European champions.
✨ What you need to know about Ousmane Dembélé's victory #ballondor pic.twitter.com/asmqUuDgPY
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) September 26, 2025
Some observers argue that Yamal should have won this year’s edition of the Ballon d’Or. He certainly enhanced the Champions League spectacle and the teenager deservedly retained the Kopa Trophy for best young player. But his Barcelona teammate, Raphinha, was named La Liga’s Player of the Season and Pedri voted Best Barcelona Player of 2025 by their former players. Yamal’s time will come. If his year is better than others. Some of the greats of the game like Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Paolo Maldini and Henry never won the Ballon d’Or. It’s that competitive and that testing a year-long challenge.
The vote draws intense interest. Social media froths with disapproval from angered fans and conspiracy theorists. But, from my experience, there is no communication between jurors, no agendas and certainly no lobbying to favour a particular nominee. It’s an objective vote. Mainstream media carry comments and columns proclaiming that the award doesn’t matter followed by lengthy debate over who should have won. The Ballon d’Or matters hugely to players, their clubs and their supporters.
Eloquent Kopites made a strong case for Salah but, taking a step back and taking a neutral’s stance, this was not Salah’s year. He was great in the Premier League, and deservedly voted the football writers’ Footballer of the Year. He’s a joy to watch but so was Dembélé, and he had the more headline-grabbing year.
Clutch Player in the Big Moments
Everyone compares weight of numbers between nominees but high-profile clutch moments decide games and campaigns—and awards. As well as acknowledgement of his sustained excellence across the year, the case for Dembélé can be convincingly compiled from video evidence of his goals in decisive away legs at Liverpool and Arsenal. He was the heavyweight who landed knockout blows.
At Anfield, PSG’s No. 10 exchanged passes with Bradley Barcola, raced into the six-yard box and beat Ibrahima Konaté, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alisson to the ball. At the Emirates, Dembélé ghosted away from Gabriel Martinelli on the halfway line to meet Nuno Mendes’ angled pass. He accelerated, slipped the ball left to Kvaratskhelia, lost Declan Rice and reached the edge of Arsenal’s area before shooting in left-footed. Dembélé then converted his penalty right-footed in the shootout. Every team needs a forward holding things together and Dembélé was a bolt of lightning. That lit his way towards the Ballon d’Or.
Other factors contributed to Dembélé’s victory, such as his prolific work in PSG winning the French title, albeit not the most arduous of challenges, and goals against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the Club World Cup, not a competition that carried much weight in Ballon d’Or deliberations, certainly not for this juror. The case for Dembélé was made, heard and answered in the elite European forum. Being a false 9 and a very real goal threat for Luis Enrique’s quicksilver side demands athleticism, technique and clever, constant movement as well as an eye for goal. Dembélé rose to the challenge.
He demonstrated qualities that youth coaches will reference to inspire those who aspire to similar heights: firstly, an immense work ethic embodied by that ferocious press; secondly, a cutting edge sharpened by getting off a shot quickly having practised hard to become two-footed; and, thirdly, a strong mindset.
One of the narratives woven around Dembélé’s Ballon d’Or is the story of redemption after struggling at Barcelona. Diet and discipline were not his forte. Fatherhood and focus helped change him. Dembélé’s recovery is being depicted as a reason, a sentimental one, to why he’s being feted. The story doubtless carries plenty of resonance in his native France. Dembélé came home to come good. His tears on accepting the award at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on Monday were genuinely moving, as was his expression of gratitude to family for their support in difficult times.
Victory the Culmination of a Stellar Year
Ousmane 🫂 Yamal#ballondor pic.twitter.com/aMOZ9gKXQT
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) September 22, 2025
But, for this juror, the Ballon d’Or isn’t about a player’s voyage of self-discovery over a few years, however romantic and dramatic the climb into the light. It’s about right here, right now, about one glorious 12-month period: Kylian Mbappé leaving PSG for Real Madrid, Enrique pushing Dembélé central, pushing him to score more and the player responding.
After awarding first place and 15 points to Dembélé and 12 to Yamal, I gave 10 to the PSG midfielder Vitinha. His Nations League success, even converting in the shootout win over Spain, was a factor but what counted most were Vitinha’s supreme performances in the Champions League.
I voted Salah fourth (eight points) followed by Raphinha (seven points). I got the top five in order (as did Canada and Norway) and the top seven in the final ranking. For the second five, I voted: Achraf Hakimi sixth (five points) followed by Mbappé (four), Mendes (three), Harry Kane (two) and Scott McTominay (one).
I sometimes get berated for not being patriotic and automatically voting for an Englishman, being the English judge. Objectivity rules. If a player hasn’t dominated the main headlines, or the Champions League, it’s hard to make a case for them. I was still surprised Cole Palmer placed ahead of Kane, who had a fine season for Bayern Munich (41 goals and 13 assists) yet came 13th.
Palmer was surely elevated into eighth by performances for Chelsea in the Conference League and Club World Cup. But the nerveless Englishman didn’t have a great year. He had a long fallow period after Christmas. Moisés Caicedo was voted Chelsea Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year.
As for McTominay, the Scot is not one of the best players in the world but he had the season of his life, and his sustained dynamism, belief and goals underpinned Napoli’s Scudetto and had him voted Serie A Most Valuable Player. McTominay eventually finished 18th in the Ballon d’Or.
I voted in three other sections of the competition: I picked Gianluigi Donnarumma for the Yashin Trophy as best keeper followed by Allison and Thibaut Courtois (Donnarumma won). In the Johan Cruyff Trophy for Coach of the Year, I went for Enrique, the eventual winner, followed by Arne Slot of Liverpool. Club of the Season had to be PSG (and was). It was PSG’s year. It was definitely Dembélé’s year.
Ballon d’Or Final Standings - Top 10
READ MORE INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS FROM SI FC COLUMNIST HENRY WINTER
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why I Voted for Ousmane Dembele to Win the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
