Vinicius Junior’s surprise inclusion in the 2025 Ballon d’Or shortlist has drawn widespread ire on social media. The Brazilian winger made it ahead of some players who enjoyed exceptional campaigns.
“I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready,” Vinicius posted on social media last year after finishing runner-up to Rodri. But he subsequently suffered a major drop in form as Real Madrid lost out on La Liga and the Copa del Rey to Barcelona and were well-beaten by Arsenal in the Champions League.
We’ve identified seven of the best players who can feel most aggrieved at not making the shortlist.
Jamal Musiala
Kicking things off with the most obvious one.
It was a massive shame that Musiala’s superb 2024-25 campaign, his best yet, ended in agony at the Club World Cup.
The 22-year-old Germany international had the ninth-highest average WhoScored match rating across Europe’s five major leagues and was the top-rated player not to make the shortlist.
Bayern duo Michael Olise and Harry Kane deserved their places on the shortlist, but Musiala was just as worthy.
He was one of the stars of Bayern’s 2024-25 Bundesliga title victory and surely had a better season than either Vinicius or Jude Bellingham, who you suspect snuck in more off their reputation than anything they did on the pitch last term.
Bradley Barcola
The French forward was one of only six players across Europe’s major leagues to hit double figures for both goals (14) and assists (10) last season.
Scudetto winner Romelu Lukaku (14 goals, 10 assists) and underrated Auxerre playmaker Gaetan Perrin (11 goals, 10 assists) were also omitted.
Barcolà averaged a goal contribution every 91 minutes last term and played a key role in Luis Enrique’s treble-winning PSG team.
While he missed out on a place in the starting XI in the Champions League final, he appeared off the bench and added gloss with the assist for the fifth and final goal.
And he repeated the trick, teeing up Goncalo Ramos for the fourth in PSG’s 4-0 Club World Cup shellacking over Real Madrid – a game in which Vinicius went missing.
Ten (a third of the whole shortlist) PSG players would arguably be excessive, but Barcola surely had a stronger claim than some who made the cut.
Marquinhos
Barcola isn’t the only PSG player that’d be within their rights to feel snubbed.
The shortlist included their ‘keeper, two first-choice full-backs, Luis Enrique’s favoured midfield trio and the front three that started the Champions League final – but there was no love for their long-serving club captain centre-back.
Marquinhos was far from a headline-maker, but the veteran Brazilian was dependably solid throughout PSG’s historic campaign. He had a far better season than his Selecao team-mate Vinicius.
Alexander Isaac
The story of this summer’s transfer window, we could well see Isak become the most expensive player in Premier League history by September.
Liverpool’s £100million+ pursuit comes off the back of the striker’s outstanding 2024-25 campaign – in which he fired Newcastle United to Champions League qualification with 23 Premier League goals, while notching at Wembley in their League Cup final victory.
Not currently one of the best 30 players in the world right now, though, apparently.
Ryan Gravenberch
Alexis Mac Allister was one of three players from Liverpool’s Premier League-winning squad to make it.
Absolutely no quibbling from captain Virgil van Dijk or talisman Mohamed Salah from us.
We’re also happy to see Mac Allister get his flowers. The World Cup winner is quietly one of the most consistent midfielders in England.
But if we were to choose just one Liverpool midfielder for this year’s shortlist, we’d err towards Gravenberch. Just.
The 23-year-old was a revelation, with Arne Slot’s tactical tweak to put his Dutch compatriot at the base of midfield proving a masterstroke.
Omar Marmoush
Salah was streets ahead of anyone else when it came to combined goals and assists across Europe’s top leagues last term. That’s why we’re backing him to get a place on the podium.
Kane and Mbappe, second and third respectively, also received deserved nominations.
Marmoush was fourth with 22 goals and nine assists for Eintracht Frankfurt and Manchester City, but he’s nowhere to be seen on the shortlist.
Vinicius Junior, for what it’s worth, ranked 40th for combined goals and assists in Europe last term. Players including Christian Pulisic, Mohamed Amoura, Moise Kean and Jarrod Bowen notched more.
Moises Caicedo
Quite possibly the best defensive midfielder in the world over the past 12 months, given that current Ballon d’Or holder Rodri was sidelined for almost all of that.
Caicedo was undoubtedly Chelsea’s standout player as they qualified back into the Champions League.
The Ecuadorian continued his fine form into the Club World Cup, where he was once again indispensable for Enzo Maresca’s Blues. He might well have been crowned the tournament’s best player had he not been overshadowed by Cole Palmer in the final.
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