THE 2025 Ballon d’Or is only a few days away and the race for the top prized is starting to heat up.
With legends, young guns and goal machines all in the mix, this year’s bash in Paris is shaping up to be an absolute blockbuster.
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But who’s actually in with a shout of walking away with the trophy and the other prizes?
Men’s Ballon d’Or
Here’s the rundown on the frontrunners for the 2025 Ballon d’Or:
1) Ousmane Dembele (PSG)
In 2024/25 the Frenchman accumulated 37 goals coupled up with 16 assists.
He a won the Treble for his club – including the first time Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League – making him the clear favourite with bookies.
2) Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
Yamal had another blistering season racking up 21 goals and 26 assists, while winning LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana.
Even though it’s likely he’ll miss out on this year’s award, he will almost definitely become the youngest to ever win the award.
He’s still got three years to do so.
3) Raphinha (Barcelona)
Winning the same trophies as Yamal, he was also part of that Barcelona front three where he scored 39 goals and had 25 assists making it by far his best season.
4) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
The Egyptian, who has never finished higher than fifth in Ballon d’Or voting, enjoyed a truly stunning year.
Salah led Liverpool to a shock Premier League title win last season, scoring 29 league goals (34 in all comps) and adding 18 assists for the Reds.
Those 47 goal contributions levelled a record held by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer – although those two players did it in a 42-game season.
Women’s Ballon d’Or
The frontrunners for the women’s Ballon d’Or:
- 1) Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal) – 23 goals, 18 assists, won Champions League
- 2) Alexia Putellas (Barcelona) – 27 goals, 21 assists, won Liga F, Copa de la Reina, Spanish Super Cup.
- 3) Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona) – 20 goals, 16 assists and same trophies as Putellas.
The Men’s Kopa Trophy
Some of the nominees for the Kopa trophy that are most likely to win the young men’s best award are:
- Lamine Yamal
- Desire Doue
- Joao Neves
Yamal could become the first player to win the award in back to back to years and it’s looking like he will again after another magnificent season.
The Women’s Kopa Trophy
The expected winners for the women’s Kopa trophy are:
- Michelle Agyemang
- Linda Caicedo
- Wieke Kaptein
- Vicky Lopez
The Men’s Yashin Trophy
The frontrunner for this award is pretty straightforward as Gianluigi Donnarumma was immense last season for PSG.
Other nominees include Alisson and Thibaut Courtois.
The Women’s Yashin Trophy
The frontrunners for this award include:
- Daphne van Domselaar
- Hannah Hampton
- Cata Coll
Men’s Johan Cryuff Trophy
Luis Enrique is the man expected to win the best coach trophy as he had a revolutionary season with his PSG team, winning the Treble.
Men’s Club of the year
With Luis Enrique expected to take the accolades for the Johan Cryuff trophy, it makes sense for PSG to win club of the year as well.
It was a dominant display from the Parisiens last season and a similar night is expected at the awards show.
