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The Best FIFA award: Who Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane and other captains voted for

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Dec 17, 2025, 11:08 AM

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Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé beat out Barcelona wonderkind Lamine Yamal to win the 2025 Best FIFA Men's Player award at a ceremony in Qatar on Tuesday.

The award replicated the result of the Ballon dOr, which also saw Dembélé edge Yamal. But, unlike the Ballon d'Or, the FIFA the Best is decided a little differently.

Voting for the awards was split into four sources: Each FIFA-registered national team's captain and one nominated coach per team were eligible, as was one nominated journalist per country, and an online fan vote.

Each group had to choose their top three from each category, which would award them five, three or one point.

Here's how notable international captains voted:

Ousmane Dembélé added the FIFA the Best Men's award to match his Ballon d'Or. Jan Kruger - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Lionel Messi (Argentina)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Kylian Mbappé

3rd: Lamine Yamal

Mohamed Salah (Egypt)

1st: Achraf Hakimi

2nd: Ousmane Dembélé

3rd: Kylian Mbappé

Harry Kane (England)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Vitinha

3rd: Mohamed Salah

Son Heung-min (South Korea)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Harry Kane

3rd: Lamine Yamal

Martin Ødegaard (Norway)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Vitinha

3rd: Harry Kane

Andy Robertson (Scotland)

1st: Mohamed Salah

2nd: Ousmane Dembélé

3rd: Nuno Mendes

Luka Modric (Croatia)

1st: Vitinha

2nd: Ousmane Dembélé

3rd: Lamine Yamal

Joshua Kimmich (Germany)

1st: Vitinha

2nd: Harry Kane

3rd: Pedri

Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary)

1st: Mohamed Salah

2nd: Ousmane Dembélé

3rd: Kylian Mbappé

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Achraf Hakimi

3rd: Lamine Yamal

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)

1st: Kylian Mbappé

2nd: Ousmane Dembélé

3rd: Raphinha

Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)

1st: Mohamed Salah

2nd: Ousmane Dembélé

3rd: Nuno Mendes

Bernardo Silva (Portugal)

1st: Vitinha

2nd: Nuno Mendes

3rd: Ousmane Dembélé

Robert Lewandowski (Poland)

1st: Lamine Yamal

2nd: Raphinha

3rd: Pedri

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Achraf Hakimi

3rd: Kylian Mbappé

David Alaba (Austria)

1st: Kylian Mbappé

2nd: Achraf Hakimi

3rd: Ousmane Dembélé

Youri Tielemans (Belgium)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Lamine Yamal

3rd: Vitinha

Edin Dzeko (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Lamine Yamal

3rd: Mohamed Salah

Alphonso Davies (Canada)

1st: Harry Kane

2nd: Ousmane Dembélé

3rd: Lamine Yamal

James Rodríguez (Colombia)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Kylian Mbappé

3rd: Lamine Yamal

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Denmark)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Kylian Mbappé

3rd: Harry Kane

Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Kylian Mbappé

3rd: Vitinha

Jan Oblak (Slovenia)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Raphinha

3rd: Lamine Yamal

Unai Simón (Spain)

1st: Lamine Yamal

2nd: Pedri

3rd: Nuno Mendes

Tim Ream (United States)

1st: Ousmane Dembélé

2nd: Kylian Mbappé

3rd: Nuno Mendes

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