The 30 nominees for the 2025 Ballon d’Or award have been announced. Argentina legend Lionel Messi will not have the opportunity to win the accolade for a record-breaking ninth time after being omitted from this year’s shortlist. Cristiano Ronaldo has also been left off, despite winning the UEFA Nations League with Portugal.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele is currently the frontrunner for the prestigious individual award, followed by Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal. Other names in the mix include PSG and Portugal midfielder Vitinha, Barcelona and Brazil’s Raphinha, and Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah.
Among the outsiders nominated for the Ballon d’Or include Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Napoli’s Scott McTominay. Palmer played an instrumental role in Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup triumph, while McTominay was named Serie A MVP after inspiring Napoli to only their fourth ever Scudetto.
2025 Ballon d’Or Nominees List
Confirmed list of players who can win 2025 Ballon d’Or award
Below is the full list of the nominees for the 2025 Ballon d’Or award. The nominees were confirmed by the Ballon d’Or’s official X (Twitter) account on August 7.
2025 Ballon d’Or Nominees List
Player
Club
Nationality
Ousmane Dembele
PSG
France
Gianluigi Donnarumma
PSG
Italy
Jude Bellingham
Real Madrid
England
Desire Doue
PSG
France
Denzel Dumfries
Inter Milan
Netherlands
Serhou Guirassy
Borussia Dortmund
Guinea
Erling Haaland
Man City
Norway
Viktor Gyokeres
Arsenal
Sweden
Achraf Hakimi
PSG
Morocco
Harry Kane
Bayern Munich
England
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
PSG
Georgia
Robert Lewandowski
Barcelona
Poland
Alexis Mac Allister
Liverpool
Argentina
Lautaro Martinez
Inter Milan
Argentina
Scott McTominay
Napoli
Scotland
Kylian Mbappe
Real Madrid
France
Nuno Mendes
PSG
Portugal
Joao Neves
PSG
Portugal
Pedri
Barcelona
Spain
2025 Ballon d’Or Date
This year’s winner will be announced in September
Ballon d’Or ceremony
The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner will be announced at a ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France, on September 22. It will be the 69th edition of the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Per UEFA’s website official website: “The 2025 awards will include the Men’s and Women’s Ballon d’Or, Men’s and Women’s Kopa Trophy (best young player), Men’s and Women’s Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), Men’s and Women’s Gerd Muller Trophy (top scorer in club/national team), Men’s and Women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy (best coach in club/national team), Men’s and Women’s Club of the Year, and Socrates Award, presented by L’Équipe group and Peace and Sport, for solidarity actions or societal causes carried out by a committed champion.”
