The 30 nominees for the 2025 Ballon d’Or have been announced. The battle for football’s most coveted individual prize looks set to be closer than ever this year, with a number of stars in with a genuine chance to lift the much-admired trophy.
The great Lionel Messi holds the record for the most Ballon d’Ors with eight to his name, whilst last year’s trophy was won by Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who pipped Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior to the award. This year’s ceremony to decide the winner will take place on September 22.
Unsurprisingly, a number of Paris-Saint-Germain players are included for the 2025 award, after the Parisians stormed their way to winning the Champions League. Forward Ousmane Dembélé is among the favourites, and is joined by teammates Désiré Doué, Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Fabián Ruiz and João Neves.
Barcelona’s 18-year-old superstar Lamine Yamal is also included and could become the youngest ever win of the coveted prize, potentially overtaking the Brazilian Ronaldo, who won it aged 19 in 1997. After leading Napoli to the Scudetto Scottish midfielder Scott McTominay is also among the 30 nominees. Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, and Erling Haaland are the Premier League players included.
2025 Ballon d’Or nominees list
The full list of nominees is as follows: Ousmane Dembélé (PSG), Désiré Doué (PSG), Vitinha (PSG), Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG), Achraf Hakimi (PSG), João Neves (PSG), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG), Fabian Ruiz (PSG), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Raphinha (Barcelona), Pedri (Barcelona), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Denzel Dumfries (Inter MIlan), Scott McTominay (Napoli), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Viktor Gyökeres (Sporting/Arsenal), Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund).
The nominees for the Kopa Trophy for the best U21 players in football was also announced with the following 10 names on that list: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Désiré Doué (PSG), Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona), João Neves (PSG), Estêvão (Palmeiras/Chelsea), Dean Huijsen (Bournmeouth/Real Madrid), Kenan Yildiz (Juventus), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Rodrigo Mora (Porto) and Ayooub Bouaddi (Lille).
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