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Beats Lamine Yamal to award
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Ousmane Dembélé is officially the 2025 Ballon d'Or winner, joining an illustrious list of players deemed the very best in world football. After making a big-money €148 million move to Barcelona aged just 20, the Frenchman failed to make the desired impact at the Camp Nou and some feared his career could be a on a downward spiral. But back in his native France with Paris Saint-Germain, the 28-year-old enjoyed the season of his life last term as he spearheaded Luis Enrique's team to the treble, including the club's first ever Champions League triumph.
Dembélé beat Barcelona's teenage starlet Lamine Yamal and ___ to the award with the aforementioned duo finishing second and third respectively. The Frenchman becomes just the second PSG player to win it after Lionel Messi won it in 2023. Across all competitions, Dembélé scored 35 goals and provided 16 assists for the Parisians last season. Manager Enrique shifting him to a central forward role at the turn of the year was pivotal in the club's success, as Dembélé formed a potent attack trident with January signing Kvhicha Kvaratskhelia ( and youngster Désiré Doué (14th in the voting). Let's take a look at all the numbers behind the season in question (2024/25) for the latest Ballon d'Or winner and how Dembélé compares to the rest of Europe's elite attackers.
The stats behind Ousmane Dembélé's sensational season
As illustrated in the graphic above, it really was a sensational season for Dembélé last term. Fantastic numbers when it comes to goals and assists, as well as four trophies won. This incredible campaign has not only rewarded Dembélé in winning football's most coveted individual prize in the Ballon d'Or, but also seen the Frenchman's market value increase by +€30m over the course of last season. He has current value of €90m. When we compare his stats to Europe's other elite attackers by looking at top-five league players with the most combined goal contributions (goals + assists), in all competitions, Dembélé actually ranks fourth.
Ahead of him are Barcelona's Raphinha (59 goal contributions), who finished in ___ place in this year's Ballon d'Or voting, Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (57 goal contributions), who finished ___, and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane (55 goal contributions), who finished ___ in the voting. Before last season, the most goal contributions Dembélé had managed in a single campaign was the 30 he accumulated in the 2016/17 season with Borussia Dortmund. His transformation last term was sublime. Opponents simply could not handle him in both Ligue 1 and the Champions League. Dembélé is a worthy winner, but which other Frenchman have picked up the coveted award down the years?
Ousmane Dembélé becomes just 6th French Ballon d'Or winner
As highlighted in the graphic above, Dembélé has become just the sixth Frenchman to get his hands on the shiny Ballon d'Or award. The most recent before him was Karim Benzema, who won it in 2022 after leading Real Madrid to Champions League glory. Then it was the legendary midfielder Zinédine Zidane who won the Ballon d'Or in 1998 whilst at Juventus - the season he won the World Cup with France, scoring two in the final against Brazil. Former striker Jean-Pierre Papin won the award in 1991 whilst at Marseille, whilst icon Michel Platini won it for three years in-a-row when at Juventus in the 1980's. Attacking midfielder Raymond Kopa was the first French winner in 1958 whilst at Real Madrid.
