Ballon d'Or Archives

Barcelona coach Flick opens up on Yamal’s Ballon d’Or disappointment

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal will be driven to greater heights after being beaten to the Ballon d’Or by Ousmane Dembele, the club’s coach Hansi Flick said Wednesday.

The 18-year-old winger finished second behind Paris Saint-Germain attacker Dembele at the glitzy gala in Paris on Monday in the battle to be crowned the world’s best player, but won the Kopa Trophy for best young player.

“I spoke with him yesterday, and I think he sees it (in the) right (way), so it’s for him also motivation for the next years,” Flick told a news conference.

“Dembele, he deserved it also, it’s a vote and a lot of things can happen, and I think he accepted this in a good way, and he’s motivated to show it this season.

“Maybe next season he also will be an option for the Ballon d’Or, but I really appreciate that a lot of players from our team are in this situation, and it’s great for our team. It shows a lot how your last season was, and this is also our goal for this season.”

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Yamal starred as Barcelona won a domestic treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup.

The winger is set to miss Thursday’s clash at Real Oviedo with a groin issue as the champions try to keep pace with La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who beat Levante on Tuesday to move five points clear of Barca.

Last season the Catalans struggled in games without the teenager but they thrashed Valencia and Getafe without him in their previous two games.

“I’m really happy, I never think about which player we are missing, I only focus on the team we have,” said Flick.

“Which players are the options for being in the starting XI… I’m happy with my team. It makes no difference; every starting XI can win matches. It’s not a big problem.”

Midfielder Gavi is out for the next four to five months after undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old missed nearly a year after a knee ligament tear in November 2023.

“We have to take care of him, we have to go step by step, because he is 21 years old and he has a huge career in the next 10 to 15 years,” said Flick.

“He’s a player with a big, big heart, he’s a player with a lot of emotion, he’s a player who lives… I wouldn’t say dies, for this club, but he’s like this and I’m really happy to have him on my team.

“Of course, we are waiting until he’s back, it’s not easy for this team, because he has a huge quality for us, but every one of us will support him, will help him to reach his level again, and this is our goal now for him.”

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Aitana Bonmati wins third straight women’s Ballon d’Or

Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati won the 2025 Women’s Ballon d’Or at an awards ceremony in Paris on Monday, the third consecutive year she has taken the prize.

Bonmati edged out Mariona Caldentey, her teammate in the Spain side beaten on penalties by England in the Women’s Euro 2025 final in July.

The 27-year-old midfielder also lost the Women’s Champions League final with her club last season, at the hands of Caldentey’s Arsenal.

Bonmati was named player of the tournament at the Euros, despite not starting either of Spain’s first two matches as she recovered from a bout of viral meningitis.

“I am very proud,” said Bonmati, who credited her teammates for their role in her personal triumph.

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“I think I am here for the third consecutive time because of the teams I play in, so all of this is because of them.”

Alessia Russo, one of the nominees from the triumphant England European Championship team, came in third place.

The Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious individual prize in both men’s and women’s football, and Bonmati’s run of three in a row follows back-to-back victories for her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas.

Norway’s Ada Hegerberg and USA star Megan Rapinoe are the only other players to have won the Women’s Ballon d’Or since it was introduced in 2018.

The Ballon d’Or is voted for by a panel of journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA world rankings for the men, and from the top 50 for the women.

READ: PSG star Ousmane Dembele wins 2025 men’s Ballon d’Or

PSG star Ousmane Dembele wins 2025 men’s Ballon d’Or

France forward Ousmane Dembele won the 2025 men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), which secured the Champions League title last season.

Dembele, 28, pipped Barcelona and Spain teenage sensation Lamine Yamal to the prize at a ceremony in Paris and succeeds Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri, who won the trophy in 2024.

The former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona winger, who was part of the France team that won the World Cup in 2018, scored 35 goals in all competitions as PSG won a French league and cup double as well as the Champions League for the first time in their history.

“I really don’t have the words. It was an incredible season with PSG,” said an emotional Dembele, who said his club coach Luis Enrique had been “like a father”.

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“It is an individual trophy, but it was really the collective that won it,” added Dembele, who was one of nine members of the triumphant PSG team from last season nominated for the prize.

“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.”

The 18-year-old Yamal, who was a teammate of Dembele’s at Barcelona when he first broke through in 2023, earlier won the Kopa Trophy for the best player aged under 21 – the second year running he has taken that award.

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Spain midfielder Rodri wins men’s Ballon d’Or

Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri was awarded the men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday after winning a fourth consecutive Premier League title and Euro 2024, but Real Madrid boycotted the ceremony.

The decision to award the prize for the world’s best player to the midfielder came as a surprise, with Real Madrid’s Liga and Champions League double winner Vinicius Junior widely seen as the favourite.

Hours before the ceremony in Paris, the Spanish club announced its delegation would not attend the ceremony at Chatelet Theatre because of what it perceived as a snub of Vinicius.

Rodri, 28, played a key role as City held off Arsenal to win the Premier League title last season and was named player of the tournament at Euro 2024 as unfancied Spain emerged triumphant in Germany.

Rodri was diplomatic when addressing the question of Real’s no-show in his post-award press conference.

“They have their decision, they didn’t want to be here for their reasons,” he said. “I just focus on my club and my team-mates.”

Despite the French organisers insisting that the identity of the winner was a closely-guarded secret this year, the news appeared to have leaked ahead of the festivities.

Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati earlier won her second successive women’s Ballon d’Or, after leading her club to a historic continental quadruple of titles and claiming the Nations League with her country.

The drama started hours before the ceremony as Spanish and European champions Real said if Vinicius was not the winner, then the award should go to his teammate Dani Carvajal.

Like the Brazilian, Carvajal scored in the 2-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley.

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Vinicius scored 24 goals and made 11 assists in 39 matches across all competitions for Madrid as he led the club to three titles last season.

“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told AFP.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

The Madrid contingent of nominees also included Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger, Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham.

The winner of the Ballon d’Or is chosen from the shortlist by an international jury of 100 specialist journalists.

The organisers, the Amaury group which owns the L’Equipe sports daily and France Football magazine, denied to AFP that the name of the successor to last year’s men’s winner Lionel Messi had leaked and insisted that “no player or club” knew in advance who had won.

When Real were named as the men’s team of the year, a video played on the stage in the absence of any club representatives.

City manager Pep Guardiola has described Rodri as “in his position, the best”.

“He can do everything. The quality, he reads the game, his mentality, he is always ready,” Guardiola has said.

In addition to his metronomic passing and ball-winning capabilities, the former Atletico Madrid player has a knack of popping up with crucial goals for club and country.

His goal won City their first Champions League in 2023 but he also scored vital goals for Spain, such as the equaliser in their last-16 Euro 2024 tie against Georgia.

So central is Rodri to Manchester City that their past four Premier League defeats have all come when he was absent.

City are top of the Premier League but their chances of winning a fifth straight domestic title were dented in September when Rodri suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, ruling him out for the season.

Bonmati, 26, joins her Barcelona team-mate Alexia Putellas as the only women to win the Ballon d’Or twice since the award’s inauguration in 2018.

“This cannot be achieved alone, I am very lucky to be surrounded by players who make me better every day,” Bonmati said.

The Catalans won every trophy available to them last season — the Spanish league, Cup, Super Cup and a second-successive Women’s Champions League.

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Real Madrid boycott Ballon d’Or over perceived Vinicius Jr snub

Real Madrid said they will boycott the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday as they are convinced that their striker Vinicius Jr, the bookmakers’ favourite to win the men’s award, has been snubbed.

The club told AFP it questioned the methods behind the selection of the Ballon d’Or winner, saying that their defender Dani Carvajal, another of the 30 players nominated, had also been unfairly overlooked.

Carvajal scored the opening goal in the 2024 Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund and Brazilian Vinicius rounded off the 2-0 win at Wembley with the second goal.

The Ballon d’Or is awarded by a jury of journalists representing the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings.

“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told AFP.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

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The Ballon d’Or organisers decided to innovate this year by keeping the winner’s identity a secret until the very end, to avoid any leaks to the press and all the nominees were invited to Monday’s ceremony in the French capital.

In previous years, the winner was revealed a few days before the awards ceremony.

In response to Real Madrid’s boycott — which was announced as the nominees were gathering for the glitzy ceremony at a Paris theatre — the organisers insisted that “no player or club” knew in advance who has won the award.

“All the clubs and players are in the same boat,” a Ballon d’Or source told AFP.

The absence of the Real players and the club’s declaration suggest that neither Vinicius, Carvajal nor English midfielder Jude Bellingham, the architects of the club’s Champions League triumph, will win the trophy.

That could leave the way clear for Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri, who was voted Euro 2024’s player of the tournament after inspiring his country to victory in Germany in July.

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Lionel Messi missing from Ballon d’Or nominees

Lionel Messi will not win another Ballon d’Or this year after being left out of the nominees revealed by organisers on Wednesday, as stars of Spain’s Euro 2024-winning team and Real Madrid’s Champions League victors feature heavily.

Messi claimed the eighth Ballon d’Or of his glittering career last year. Now aged 37, he is not among the 30 contenders this time despite winning another title with Argentina at the Copa America in July.

The former Barcelona superstar, now playing club football in MLS for Inter Miami, was also missing from the nominees in 2022 when Karim Benzema took the honours.

However, he returned to win last year after leading Argentina to glory at the World Cup in Qatar.

The most prestigious individual award in football is voted for by a jury of journalists from each of the top 100 countries in FIFA’s world ranking.

Brazil forward Vinicius Junior is among the favourites and is one of six members of the Madrid team that won La Liga and the Champions League last season to be nominated.

Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Antonio Ruediger and Fede Valverde are the others, while Kylian Mbappe — who left Paris Saint-Germain for Real over the close season — features too.

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Carvajal is among the contenders from the victorious Spain team alongside Alejandro Grimaldo, Dani Olmo, Rodri, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal.

Manchester City’s Norwegian star Erling Haaland and England and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane are on the list as well, but there is no place for five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo, now 39.

Xabi Alonso, who won the Bundesliga in an unbeaten season with Bayer Leverkusen, is among the favourites for best coach.

His rivals include Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti and Spain’s Luis de la Fuente.

Meanwhile, Aitana Bonmati of Barcelona and Spain will hope to retain the women’s Ballon d’Or.

Former winners Ada Hegerberg and Alexia Putellas are also nominated, along with five members of the United States’ Olympic gold medal-winning team in Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman, Lindsey Horan and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

The Ballon d’Or ceremony is due to take place in Paris on October 28.

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Ronaldinho says Mbappe could win Ballon d’Or with PSG

Star French striker Kylian Mbappe can win the Ballon d’Or in “any team”, Ronaldinho told AFP Sunday, but the Brazilian would like him to win it with Paris Saint-Germain, “a big club”.

“A great player like him can have the opportunity to win the Ballon d’Or in any team, but as I love PSG, I would like him to do it with PSG,” the 2002 World Champion said.

“I hope he will win it. He is a good friend and a very great player. I like his style of play,” he said during an interview with AFP in Thailand.

The prestigious award still eludes the French captain, who finished this year in third place — his best ranking to date.

“Winning the big competitions will help him a lot,” said Ronaldinho, who wore No.10 for PSG from 2001 to 2003.

“PSG is a great club,” the Brazilian said during a visit to Bangkok as an ambassador for Teqball, a novelty sport combining football and table tennis.

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Next year promises to be both busy and potentially uncertain for Mbappe.

The 24-year-old could see a possible run to the finals of the Champions League, as well as the Euro 2024 with PSG.

“As every year, it is very difficult (to win the Champions League). But PSG has a great coach, very great players, and therefore, everything is possible,” the former Barcelona and Milan player said.

But Paris coach Luis Enrique — under whom Ronaldinho played for a season at Barca in 2003 and 2004 — is a “very good coach.”

“As a player, he was very strong. I saw what he accomplished. I hope things go very well for him,” he said.

Mbappe also has to negotiate an uncertain contract, which could see his departure from Paris in June.

Real Madrid, which has been courting him for several years, appears best placed to attract him.

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Messi wins eighth Ballon d’Or as Bonmati claims women’s award

Lionel Messi won the eighth Ballon d’Or of his remarkable career at a glittering ceremony in Paris on Monday, while Spain’s World Cup-winning star Aitana Bonmati took the women’s prize.

For Messi, the trophy rewards, above all else, his inspirational performances at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, when he dragged Argentina to victory, scoring seven goals and being named the tournament’s best player.

It was the crowning moment of his astonishing career, and it allowed him to see off stiff competition, in particular from Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, to take the award on the stage of the Chatelet Theatre in Paris.

It was a return to the French capital after his departure from Paris Saint-Germain in June and his subsequent move to Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.

“This is a gift to the whole Argentina team for what we achieved,” said Messi on stage after receiving his award from David Beckham, the co-owner of Inter Miami.

Messi dedicated his eighth Ballon d’Or trophy to late Argentina legend Diego Maradona, who would have celebrated his 63rd birthday on Monday.

“Happy birthday Diego. This is for you too,” he said.

Messi benefits from a recent change which means the award is based on a player’s record over the last season, rather than over the calendar year.

He won despite an underwhelming final season at PSG, even if he was a Ligue 1 title winner.

Mbappe was the star player in that team, scoring 41 goals, and was also the World Cup’s top scorer with eight goals, including a hat-trick in the final which France lost to Argentina on penalties.

Yet he fell just short for the Ballon d’Or, finishing third, while Norway striker Haaland came second after scoring 52 goals in 53 games for the Manchester City team that won the treble of English Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

Messi is 36 and won his first Ballon d’Or in 2009. With eight, he is now three ahead of his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo, the next most decorated player in the history of the award.

It remains to be seen if Messi will again feature in the running for the prize, which is voted for by one journalist in each of the top 100 nations in the FIFA ranking.

“I am not thinking about the long-term future. I am just enjoying the day to day at the moment,” he said.

Messi will struggle to hold off the next wave of superstars, led by Mbappe, Haaland and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, but his World Cup performances made his victory this time feel inevitable.

The women’s prize seemed even more clear cut, as Bonmati was rewarded for starring as Spain won the World Cup in Australia in August.

The 25-year-old midfielder was named the best player at the World Cup as the Spanish team overcame off-field turbulence, including protests against their national federation and coach Jorge Vilda, to lift the trophy.

Bonmati also starred as Barcelona won the Champions League last season and was recently named as the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year.

“It is difficult to improve on this. It has been a unique year,” she told various media including AFP.

“If anyone said to me when I was little that I would play at the Camp Nou, win the World Cup, two Champions Leagues, a Ballon d’Or, a UEFA award, these are extraordinary things.”

She was one of four members of the triumphant Spain team to feature among the 30 nominees, with Alba Redondo, Salma Paralluelo and full-back Olga Carmona, who netted the winner in the final, all shortlisted.

Last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, also part of that Spain side, was not nominated after missing almost all of last season with a knee injury.

Australia’s Sam Kerr came second with Paralluelo in third place.

Putellas had won the Ballon d’Or in each of the previous two campaigns. Norway’s Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural award in 2018 and USA star Megan Rapinoe succeeded her a year later.

Bellingham won the Kopa Trophy for the best player of last season aged under 21.

The 20-year-old has started his Madrid career with 13 goals in 13 games, although the prize rewards his performances in his final campaign with Borussia Dortmund.

Bellingham’s Madrid teammate, the Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, won the Socrates prize in recognition of his off-pitch work.

Messi’s Argentina colleague Emiliano Martinez won the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper of the season.

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Benzema wins Ballon d’Or as Putellas retains women’s prize

PARIS: Karim Benzema was rewarded for his remarkable success with Real Madrid by winning the Ballon d’Or at a star-studded ceremony in Paris on Monday, while Spain’s Alexia Putellas retained the women’s prize.

Benzema, who is the first French winner of the most prestigious individual award in football since Zinedine Zidane in 1998, scored 44 goals in 46 games for his club last season as Real won the Champions League and La Liga.

Fifteen of his goals came in the Champions League, including hat-tricks in knockout wins against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea and three more across both legs of a stunning semi-final defeat of Manchester City.

The 34-year-old, who also won the UEFA Nations League with France, succeeds Lionel Messi with the Argentine not nominated this year after claiming the prize for the seventh time in 2021.

“The Ballon d’Or might be individual but it’s still a collective award. This is the Ballon d’Or of the people,” Benzema declared.

“Winning this trophy was always something that was in the back of my mind,” he added.

Benzema pushed Sadio Mane into second place, although the Bayern Munich and Senegal star did have his off-field work recognised as he was given a new award named after former Brazil star Socrates.

Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City was third, with Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski coming fourth.

Winning the award, organised by France Football magazine, caps a remarkable career revival for Benzema, who was frozen out of the France team for five and a half years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sextape involving teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

He was later handed a one-year suspended prison sentence and fined 75,000 euros ($73,848).

He returned to the national team for last year’s European Championship and will now go to the World Cup in Qatar with France next month.

“There were moments that were much more difficult for me, for example when I wasn’t with the national team, but I am really, really proud of my journey,” he added.

Benzema turns 35 on December 19, the day after the World Cup final, and is the oldest winner of the Ballon d’Or since the very first, Stanley Matthews in 1956.

The former Lyon striker is also the fifth Frenchman to win the prize, with Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini and Jean-Pierre Papin all getting their hands on the trophy before Zidane.

The award was previously based on a player’s performances over the course of the calendar year.

But the format has changed, with the prize now based on a player’s record over the last season.

That may have helped Putellas win the women’s award despite suffering a serious knee injury in July that saw her miss the European Championship with Spain.

Instead, Putellas’s performances with Barcelona were recognised after she top-scored in the Women’s Champions League to help the Catalans reach the final, which they lost to Lyon.

“It makes me even more annoyed to be injured, but I am very happy to be here,” Putellas said.

“To retain the trophy is much harder. When I injured my knee I thought my chances of winning it had gone but in the end the jury based their decision on the whole of last season, of which I only missed one month.”

The 28-year-old edged out Beth Mead, who scored six goals for the England side that won the Euro on home soil.

Sam Kerr of Chelsea and Australia came third.

It is just the fourth time a women’s Ballon d’Or has been awarded, with Norway’s Ada Hegerberg winning the inaugural prize in 2018 and Megan Rapinoe triumphing in 2019.

There was no ceremony in 2020 due to the pandemic, before Putellas won her first a year ago.

Her injury means she is unlikely to make it a hat-trick next year, although she hopes to play again this season.

“The knee is doing well. I just need to focus on recovering and if everything goes as I hope — and as the doctors and my club hope — I will be back playing this season,” she said.

Barcelona and Spain midfielder Gavi won the Kopa Trophy for the best player aged under 21, while Lewandowski received the award for last season’s top goalscorer, renamed the Gerd Mueller Trophy.

Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois won the prize for best goalkeeper of the year.

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