Men’s 2025 Ballon d’Or Power Rankings – Does Ousmane Dembele or Lamine Yamal claim top spot ahead of awards ceremony?

The players have done all they can. The votes are in. Now, it is the agonising final wait for the main contenders.

The voting period reflected performances across the last season of football (2024/25), rather than the calendar year. That means that any performances from this season will not count in any way.

It feels important for players to have true standout moments when it comes to the Ballon d’Or, a trend undeniably started by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when they began their dominance of the award.

For a goalkeeper to win this award again, they will surely need starring roles in winning the Champions League and World Cup in the same season. The bar is that high. Sadly for new Manchester City keeper Donnarumma, he probably hasn’t cleared it.

However, it ultimately feels as though, without an international tournament, Palmer never really stood a chance given he did not play in the Champions League.

“I said he could win the Ballon d’Or one day, that’s how good his start was. Maybe it’s slowed down a little bit, but you just look at the way he decides games.

“His finishing is up there with some of the best players in the world. He literally passes the ball into the goal. He’s one of my favourite players to watch in the world of football.”

This season has just come too soon, even for Palmer’s meteoric rise.

Mbappe actually had a pretty good debut season for Real Madrid – 43 goals across all competitions is a return that anybody would be proud of – but it is really, really hard to win the Ballon d’Or in a year in which your club does not win any major trophies.

Namely, that it is just too tricky for a defensive player to win this award, even for offensively-minded defenders like this duo.

Mendes had an excellent year, also winning the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, and there is a pretty good argument to be made that he is the best left-back in the world right now, but he did not have nearly enough big moments to make a real dent in these rankings.

Plus, on a personal note, he did not manage to create the piece individual history we thought he was on track for by becoming the second player in Premier League history to record 20+ goals and 20+ assists in the same season. That was the kind of record that could have overcome a last-16 Champions League exit.

Salah will now need Liverpool to go that one step further and reclaim the Champions League this season, or make some magic with Egypt at the 2026 World Cup, to have a shot at winning the award he craves.

Despite Mendes winning the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, we have Hakimi above his opposite number simply because, watching PSG play last season, many could feel the Moroccan’s influence more.

The way we think about the full-back position has evolved immensely over the last decade or so, and Hakimi is one of the perfect examples of what a weapon a full-back can be.

Hakimi can move inside or hug the byline with equal ease, he can create and he can score.

He is arguably one of the most complete footballers in the world, and he has as good a chance as any full-back to win this award over the next few years.

He is one of the team’s five captains and one of the most important players in the squad.

Raphinha scored 34 goals last season and added 22 more via assists – a truly astonishing output whatever your name is, and a testament to the hard work the Brazilian has kept putting in throughout his career.

Due to his young team-mate who we will talk about shortly, Raphinha may never win this award, but he is potentially on his way to becoming one of the best players of his generation.

The triumphs of Luka Modric and Rodri in recent years have shown us that we can look away from the glitz and the glamour of the goalscoring attackers, that we can appreciate the midfield metronomes who make the game tick.

Yes, the Club World Cup final was not pretty, as was the case for so many of his team-mates, but Vitinha still deserves at the very least to be on the podium, if not higher.

For a then-17-year-old to tear apart one of the best defensive set-ups in world football, on a stage that was as big as it gets, was nothing short of breathtaking.

Yamal ended his season with 18 goals and 21 assists. Again, and we have to say this repeatedly, at the age of 17, for one of the biggest clubs in the world, it is truly absurd.

If Barcelona had made the Champions League final and lost to PSG, this might be his award to lose. As it is, he falls just short.

Like Mbappe, though, he should win one of these in his career, most likely multiple, as the talent is terrifying.

Some Barca fans may not have shed a tear when Dembele was sold to PSG, but few now would not take him in their starting line-up.

During his breakthrough season at Rennes back in the 2015/16 season, Dembele scored 12 league goals. Across his time at Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and PSG, he never got to double-digits in league goals again until last season, when he scored 21.

Across all competitions last term, he netted 35 times, and 14 more goal contributions were added by assists.

The Ballon d’Or is supposed to be a triumph of everything to do with football, not just numbers, and that is why Dembele is such a suitable winner.

He was written off by so many, left to be forgotten when he returned to Paris. His rebirth as one of the most dangerous attackers in the world, alongside PSG’s rise to the top of the European table, is a remarkable story.