OUSMANE Dembele finally joined football’s elite on Monday night (Tuesday morning in the Philippines) after being named the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner, the highest individual accolade in the sport.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward edged Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal to claim the golden ball in a ceremony held in Paris, succeeding Manchester City’s Rodri as the reigning best player in the world.
Dembele’s crowning moment came at the end of a campaign that will be remembered as historic for PSG, who at last lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy after years of frustration.
The French champions not only conquered Europe but also swept domestic titles to complete a treble.
Now 28, the former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona winger was central to that success, producing 35 goals in all competitions and powering the club to its long-awaited breakthrough.
“I really don’t have the words. It was an incredible season with PSG,” Dembele said in his acceptance speech, calling coach Luis Enrique “like a father.”
“It is an individual trophy but it was really the collective that won it,” added Dembele, one of nine PSG stars shortlisted following the club’s trophy-laden run.
Yamal, only 18, settled for second place in the Ballon d’Or race but did not go home empty-handed. He collected his second straight Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world’s best player under 21.
A member of France’s 2018 World Cup-winning squad, Dembele admitted the award was never at the top of his ambitions.
“The Ballon d’Or has not really been an objective for me in my career but I worked hard for the team to win the Champions League,” he said.
For Dembele, the honor stands as the pinnacle of a career that once seemed derailed by injuries and inconsistency, but has now come full circle in Paris with both collective and individual glory.
Meanwhile, FC Barcelona and Spain national women’s football team star Aitana Bonmati captured her third consecutive Ballon d’Or feminin citation./PN
