Ballon d’Or 2025: Dembele and Kelly among the favorites to win top prizes in Paris

Paris Saint-Germain Forward Ousmane Dembele and England Forward Chloe Kelly are among the leading contenders who win the Ballon d’Or prize of the men and ladies on Monday.

They are front runners among the 30 nominees for men and 30 ladies who were unveiled last month by France Football Magazine, announced with the winners during a ceremony in Central Paris.

The 28-year-old Dembele was inspiring in leading PSG for his first Champions League title and is one of a remarkable nine PSG players who compete for the men’s prize. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has since become a member of Manchester City, but was nominated as a PSG player.

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Teen Barcelona star Lamine Yamal and Mohamed Salah from Liverpool are among the other candidates for men.

When England won the European Championship for Women in July, 27-year-old Kelly shot the decisive fine home in the final against World Cup winner Spain. She also won the Women’s Champions League with surprise winner Arsenal.

She is confronted with competition from defender Lucy Bronze and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton – her teammates from England who both play for Chelsea – and from Barcelona -midfielder Aitana Bonmatí, the winner of the last two prizes.

Barcelona players have won the last four women’s prizes.

Because the French football competition has postponed the game on Sunday evening between host Marseille and PSG with 24 hours due to a heavy weather forecast, the game in Stade Velodrome is planned to start Monday at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT).

That clashes with the ceremony of Ballon d’Or and prevents most PSG players from being present.

Dembélé, and his colleague nominees Désiré Doué and João Neves are, however, injured and not in the competition day team, making them free to attend the ceremony.

PSG’s Luis Enrique was nominated for the best coach.

The Ballon d’Or was founded by France Football Magazine and has been awarded for men since 1956, and since 2018 for women. It is voted by journalists from the Top 100 countries in the FIFA ranking list for the men’s price and the Top 50 of FIFA-ranked countries for the Women’s Award.

Each journalist, one per country, selects players in arranged order with points that are attributed to each position.

Published on September 22, 2025