Ousmane Dembélé, Aitana Bonmatí Win 2025 Ballon d’Or
Image courtesy of The Athletic.
By Griffin Cappiello
On Tuesday, French magazine France Football hosted the annual Ballon d’Or awards to honor the best soccer players from the previous season. Ousmane Dembélé, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and Aitana Bonmatí, who plays for FC Barcelona Femení, were named the 2025 Ballon d’Or winners.
Dembélé, a twenty-eight-year-old Frenchman, won the award for the first time in his career after a spectacular season for PSG. The forward led the Paris club to three trophies in the 2024-25 campaign: defending their titles in Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France, and winning the club’s first ever Champions League title. Dembélé scored a career-high 35 goals and provided 16 assists in 53 appearances.
Bonmatí, a twenty-seven-year old Spaniard, won the award for the third consecutive time, becoming the third player and first woman in soccer history to accomplish this feat. The midfielder led Barcelona to a domestic treble: a sixth consecutive Liga F title, back-to-back Copa de la Reina titles, and a fourth consecutive Supercopa de España Femenina. She scored 16 goals and recorded 11 assists across all competitions. Bonmatí scored 4 and assisted 5 in the Women’s Champions League and was named player of the tournament, but fell just short of the title in a 0-1 defeat to Arsenal in the final.
The Kopa Trophy, which recognizes the best player under the age of twenty-one, was awarded to FC Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and FC Barcelona Femení’s Vicky López.
Yamal, who finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting, became the first player to win the Kopa Trophy on multiple occasions, picking up his second successive award. The eighteen-year-old Spanish winger scored 18 goals and provided 25 assists in 55 appearances and led Barcelona to a domestic treble: capturing titles in the La Liga, Copa del Rey, and Spanish Supercup.
López, a nineteen-year-old Spanish winger, scored 11 goals and provided 3 assists in 33 games across all competitions. Alongside Bonmatí, she captured a domestic treble for Barcelona and reached the European Championship final with Spain.
The Johan Cruyff Trophy, awarded to the coach of the year, was awarded to Luis Enrique and Sarina Wiegman. Enrique, the Spanish coach of Paris Saint-Germain, was rewarded for his team’s performances in the Champions League and Ligue 1, while Wiegman, the Dutch coach of the English Women’s National Team, was recognized for her team’s performance in the Euros, which they won after a penalty shootout.
The Yashin Trophy, awarded to the best goalkeeper, went to Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hannah Hampton. Donnarumma, the Italian who recently joined Manchester City, won the award for the second time for his successful campaign with PSG. Hampton, the English goalkeeper for Chelsea, won for her contributions in Chelsea’s Women’s Super League title-winning campaign and for her heroics in the Euros final, in which she saved two penalties in the shootout.
The Gerd Müller Trophy, awarded to the top scoring player, went to Viktor Gyökeres and Ewa Pajor. Gyökeres, the Swedish forward who joined Arsenal this summer from Sporting CP, scored 63 goals in 63 matches. Pajor, the Polish forward for Barcelona, scored 48 goals in 54 appearances.
The Sócrates Award, given for the best humanitarian work, went to Luis Enrique and the Xana Foundation. The foundation, which supports children with serious illnesses and their families, was founded by Enrique after his daughter Xana, after whom the foundation is named, sadly passed away at the age of nine in 2019.
