By Rohini Sridharan
The Ballon d’Or—one of the most prestigious ceremonies, which recognizes the best footballers of the season—was held on Monday, 22nd September. Presented by France Football, Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati had breakthroughs, winning in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively.
Dembele, who was the main man of Paris Saint-Germain for the 2024-2025, won the men’s Ballon d’Or for the first time. His season included 35 goals and over a dozen assists across all competitions. He was instrumental in PSG’s first-ever UEFA Champions League victory, as well as their first-ever treble. Under the guidance of the coach Luis Enrique, Dembele seems to have rediscovered himself and turned into a world-class player with a significant role in his club’s success and achieved individual recognition as well.
The Barcelona midfielder Bonmatí made history by winning three consecutive Ballon d’Or Féminin in the women’s category. With her exceptional performances throughout the season, she helped her club reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League final. Although having lost the Champions League final, she went on to secure multiple domestic trophies. Despite Spain’s narrow loss in the UEFA Women’s Euro final, her influence at both the club and international levels has given her this well-deserved trophy.
Paris Saint-Germain dominated beyond Dembele’s award. The club was named Team of the Season, Luis Enrique received the Best Coach award, and former PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, now at Manchester City, won the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper.
Barcelona’s prodigy 18 year-old Lamine Yamal, was also recognized, earning the Kopa trophy for the best player under 21 for the second consecutive year. He finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting, denoting his prominence in the club and in the game.
Having received criticisms as to the credibility and fairness of the award in recent years, several Real Madrid players, namely Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., and Jude Bellingham, refrained from showing up to the ceremony despite receiving nominations for the award.
The limelight still stays on the winners, as they’ve made their mark in the history books; Dembele won it for the first time and played an instrumental role in turning PSG into one of Europe’s major powerhouses and Bonmati achieved the extraordinary feat of winning a hattrick of ballon d’Ors, being the first woman to do it.