It is that time of the year when the football world will be focused on the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, where the 2025 Ballon d’Or will be handed to the best player in the world.
The prestigious award has drawn a lot of debate and reaction down the years, from the obvious wins, such as Lionel Messi in 2012, to the contencious like Franck Ribery and Robert Lewandowski being denied in 2013 and 2021 respectively.
Afrosport takes a look at the top five frontrunners for the award on Monday night.
🥇The 2025 #ballondor winner will be….? pic.twitter.com/OuxIWLTcCR
— UEFA (@UEFA) September 22, 2025
Raphinha
The Brazilian winger was one of the standout players during the 2024-25 season. He scored and assisted goals with much consistency, racking up 34 goals and 25 assists in 57 appearances in all competitions, making him a class apart.
Raphinha’s presence made Barcelona so formidable that they were touted to win the quadruple, and they came close, but ultimately fell short in the UEFA Champions League, where they lost to Inter Milan in the semi-finals.
He still managed to finish as joint top scorer in Europe’s premier club competition with 13 goals alongside Guinea’s Sehrou Guirassy, and is tipped with a strong chance of becoming the fifth Brazilian to win the Ballon d’Or after Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Kaka.
Lamine Yamal
The Spanish winger of Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean heritage is another strong favourite after a sizzling campaign in 2024-25.
Yamal, still only 18 years of age, continues to show immense brilliance and played a part in Barcelona’s domestic treble last term by netting 18 goals and providing 25 assists in 55 competitive appearances.
For hitting numbers the likes of top Ballon d’Or recipients Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did not have at his age, the 2024 Golden Boy and Kopa Trophy recipient has won the hearts of many fans across the world and was rewarded with wearing the iconic number 10 Barcelona shirt that was synonymous with Messi’s name for 17 years.
Ousmane Dembele
The Frenchman of Malian, Mauritanian and Senegalese heritage was associated with Barcelona for six years but never hit the heights expected of him when he signed for a hefty €145 million from Borussia Dortmund in 2017.
Dembele joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2023 and while his first season was decent with six goals and 14 assists in 42 games, he took things to a phenomenal level in 2024-25, scoring 35 goals and providing 16 assists in 53 matches as the French giants finally won the Champions League, completed a quadruple and reached the final of the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
The 28-year-old was never touted to hit such heights but is now seen as the firm favourite to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
Mohamed Salah
The Egyptian superstar, now 33 years old, may be advancing in age, but it has not stopped him from maintaining his knack for scoring goals consistently.
Salah scored a total of 34 goals and provided 23 assists during the 2024-25 campaign, 29 of the goals coming in the Premier League with 18 assists. It saw him finish at the top of the goal and assist charts, which helped Liverpool to their 20th top-flight title.
It was the fourth time he won the Premier League golden boot after 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2021-22, and he has been given the nod to win the Ballon d’Or for such exploits.
Kylian Mbappe
The Frenchman of Cameroonian heritage joined Real Madrid in a blockbuster free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last summer, and question marks were raised on how he would fit into the team, partly because he excels on the left flank, a position which Brazilian star Vinicius Jr made his own at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Nonetheless, Mbappe showed his top quality playing as the number nine and scored 44 goals in 59 competitive appearances, finishing ahead of the likes of Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski as top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues.
Real Madrid only won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, two titles not considered to have much weight compared to the Champions League and La Liga, but regardless, Mbappe’s solid numbers have put him in the Ballon d’Or conversation.
