Paris, Sept. 22 (LaPresse) – Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé has won the Ballon d’Or as the best player of the 2024/25 season. In the final head-to-head, the French player edged out Barcelona’s young Spanish talent Lamine Yamal. Third place went to midfielder Vitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain). Italian goalkeeper Gigio Donnarumma, formerly of PSG and now at Manchester City, finished ninth.
Dembélé led PSG with his goals, helping the club win its first Champions League, and was among the nine PSG players in contention for the men’s award. Dembélé was one of the few PSG representatives present at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, as the rest of the team was engaged in the league’s big match against Marseille, which had been postponed yesterday due to bad weather.
Dembélé, Désiré Doué, and João Neves were all injured and not on the match squad list, which allowed them to attend the ceremony. The Ballon d’Or was created by the French magazine France Football and has been awarded since 1956 to men and since 2018 to women. It is voted on by journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries for the men’s prize and the top 50 FIFA-ranked countries for the women’s prize.