Ballon d'Or 2025 prediction: who's going to win it?
Sportytrader's Ballon d'Or favourites
Let's get straight to the point with our editorial team's favourites. Here are our favourites for the 2025 Ballon d'Or.
1- Ousmane Dembélé (28, France & PSG)
What can we say about Ousmane Dembélé's career? Excellent and promising at the start, which was only logical given his talent, he ended up becoming a good player, capable of moments of brilliance, but above all very inconsistent and almost always injured. Then came his signing for Paris Saint-Germain.
His first season was a reflection of his career: dangerous for opposing defences, explosive and twirling, but above all unpredictable. The only problem was his inefficiency in the final move and in front of goal! With only 6 goals and 12 assists, we had a right to expect better from a player of his talent.
But no one expected him to have a season like he did last year: 33 goals in a hybrid role as a false number 9, with a total of 12 assists in 49 games for Paris.
But above all, he was there when it mattered most! Between the only goal of the match in the Trophée des Champions against Monaco, the goal that got the game going again against Manchester City, the goal against Liverpool at Anfield, the goal at the Emirates against Arsenal and the two assists in the final.
Ultimately, PSG's number 10 had a successful season, both personally and collectively. He won Ligue 1, the Trophée des Champions, the Coupe de France and the first Champions League in his club's history. The only blemishes on his record were defeats in the Nations League (semi-finals) with France and in the Club World Cup final.
Ousmane Dembélé is our favourite to win the Ballon d'Or 2025.
2- Lamine Yamal (18 years old, Spain & FC Barcelona)
What can we say about the young prodigy of FC Barcelona... Already compared to Lionel Messi by many media outlets, fans and football observers, his pure talent continues to impress match after match. While he still has room for improvement in certain areas (and fortunately so, at his age), he already shows great maturity in his play.
A true fireball, he constantly provokes opposing defenders and causes havoc on the right wing with his relentless dribbling, powerful shot and excellent passing skills. His double confrontation against Inter Milan in last year's Champions League semi-final, for example, was more than impressive.
Last year, in 55 matches for the Catalan club, he scored 18 goals and provided 21 assists. He tormented the defences of some of the world's biggest clubs, including Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Atlético, Bayern Munich and the French national team.
He ended the season by winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. However, he lost in the semi-finals of the Champions League and then in the final of the Nations League. And that is clearly what will tip the balance in Ousmane Dembélé's favour in our opinion, because we know how important the Champions League is in the voting.
While there is no doubt that he will win a Ballon d'Or (and even several) during his career, we do not believe that the 2025 Ballon d'Or should go to him.
3- Vitinha (25, Portugal & PSG)
This is a player we really like at SportyTrader. A true metronome for Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal, Vitinha is a behind-the-scenes player who may not necessarily feature in the goal or assist statistics, but who is of paramount importance to his teams.
Technical quality, ball protection, restarting play, breaking through defensive lines... The many qualities of PSG's number 17 make him a complete midfielder, who has progressed since his arrival in the French capital.
With 7 goals and 3 assists last year in a Parisian shirt (in 52 appearances), he has the same honours list as his teammate Dembélé: Ligue 1, Trophée des Champions, Coupe de France and Champions League. He even won the Nations League with Portugal as an added bonus!
Unfortunately for him, and Rodri last year remains a counter-example, attacking players often have an advantage in these individual trophies, and he is unlikely to win the Ballon d'Or 2025 largely because of his position. Because in our opinion, he richly deserves it!
4- Achraf Hakimi (26, Morocco & PSG)
Just below the podium is a player who had a great season, winning the same trophies as his Parisian teammates: Ligue 1, Trophée des Champions, Coupe de France and Champions League. And he was a key player in the quest for all these titles, especially in the Champions League.
He opened the scoring in the final against Inter, but he also found the net in the quarter-finals against Aston Villa and in the semi-finals against Arsenal. He also scored in the French Cup final!
At club level, he almost achieved a double-double in 48 appearances, with 9 goals and 12 assists in total. If we take into account the 7 Club World Cup matches he played, he even reached that level, scoring 2 goals and providing 2 assists!
Much like Vintinha, we believe his victory would be far from scandalous and we could even say it would be well deserved. Unfortunately for him, Ousmane has an advantage thanks to his position and his more spectacular character on the pitch.
5- Raphinha (28, Brazil & FC Barcelona)
We finish this top 5 with a second Barcelona player: Brazilian Raphinha. For a long time, he was Ousmane Dembélé's direct rival, but the Catalan club's fans eventually gave up on that battle and set their sights on star player Lamine Yamal.
And yet, on a personal level, he had the best season of his career and one of the best seen in Europe in recent years. Wearing the Barça shirt, he scored 34 goals and provided 22 assists in 57 games. A total of 56 goals and assists made him quite simply the most decisive player in Europe last year.
In terms of team trophies, like his young Spanish teammate, he won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. He could have been a little higher in our ranking, but it was obviously Barça's elimination in the Champions League semi-finals against Inter that led us to make this choice. There is no doubt, however, that the former Rennes and Leeds player had a stellar season and that he also deserves the Ballon d'Or 2025.
So, do you also see PSG's number 10 winning the Holy Grail? Or do you see a surprise coming? While waiting for the ceremony, feel free to check out our football predictions for today!
