2025 Ballon d'Or: Ousmane Dembélé and Chloé Kelly among the top contenders

The wait is coming to an end. The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony will be held on Monday evening at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

Each year, the awards show celebrates the finest in international football. Africanews takes a look at the strongest contenders of this 69th edition.

Ousmane Dembélé and Chloé Kelly among the favourites

Among the 30 men’s and 30 women’s nominees revealed last month by France Football magazine, some favourites stand out.

For the second time in a row, neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi – who have thirteen Ballon d'Or awards between them – appear among the 30 nominees on the men’s side.

This absence marks perhaps the beginning of a new era and certain leaves the door open to other players.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé is the leading contender to the win the trophy. Dembélé was instrumental in leading PSG to its first Champions League title in only his second season with the team.

The 28-year-old forward is among a remarkable nine PSG players vying for the men’s award, including midfielder Désiré Doué and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma – who has since joined Manchester City but was nominated as a PSG player.

“The 2024–2025 season that the world is celebrating tonight has been marked by PSG's overall performance and the magnificent paradox of an irresistible team that has brought out unexpected individual talent,” wrote French sports newspaper L’Équipe.

Another strong candidate for the men’s award is FC Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal. At 17 years old, he became the youngest player ever nominated for the Ballon d’Or - he has since turned 18.

Other contenders include Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé.

On the women’s side, the favourite is England forward Chloé Kelly, who shined both in club and with her national team.

When England won the Women’s European Championship in July, Kelly blasted home the decisive penalty in the final against world champion Spain. She also won the Women’s Champions League with surprise winner Arsenal.

She faces competition from defender Lucy Bronze and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton — her England teammates who both play for Chelsea.

A Chloé Kelly victory would also end Barcelona’s domination. Players from the Spanish club have won the past four women’s awards, with midfielder Aitana Bonmatí taking home the trophy in 2023 and 2024.

A celebration of the PSG

Even aside from the two main awards, the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony could well turn into celebration of the PSG’s stellar season.

The Parisian team is also in the running for the Men’s Club of the Year award, while PSG’s Luis Enrique is nominated for best coach.

Because Ligue 1 postponed Sunday night’s match between host Marseille and PSG by 24 hours due to a severe weather forecast, the match at Stade Velodrome is scheduled to start on Monday at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT).

That clashes with the Ballon d’Or ceremony and prevents most PSG players from attending. However, Dembélé, Désiré Doué and João Neves are injured and not in the matchday squad, leaving them free to attend the ceremony.

The voting system The Ballon d’Or was created by France Football and has been awarded since 1956 for men, and since 2018 for women.

It is voted for by journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings for the men’s award and the top 50 FIFA-ranked countries for the women’s award. Each journalist, one per country, selects players in ranked order with points attributed to each position.

The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and begins at 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).