The 30 nominees for the 2025 Ballon d’Or award have been announced. Argentina legend Lionel Messi will not have the opportunity to win the accolade for a record-breaking ninth time after being omitted from this year's shortlist. Cristiano Ronaldo has also been left off, despite winning the UEFA Nations League with Portugal.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele is currently the frontrunner for the prestigious individual award, followed by Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal. Other names in the mix include PSG and Portugal midfielder Vitinha, Barcelona and Brazil’s Raphinha, and Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah.
Among the outsiders nominated for the Ballon d’Or include Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Napoli’s Scott McTominay. Palmer played an instrumental role in Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup triumph, while McTominay was named Serie A MVP after inspiring Napoli to only their fourth ever Scudetto.
2025 Ballon d'Or Nominees List
Confirmed list of players who can win 2025 Ballon d'Or award
The Ballon d'Or trophy
Below is the full list of the nominees for the 2025 Ballon d'Or award. The nominees were confirmed by the Ballon d'Or's official X (Twitter) account on August 7.
2025 Ballon d'Or Nominees List
Player
Ousmane Dembele
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Jude Bellingham
Desire Doue
Denzel Dumfries
Serhou Guirassy
Erling Haaland
Viktor Gyokeres
Achraf Hakimi
Harry Kane
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Robert Lewandowski
Alexis Mac Allister
Lautaro Martinez
Scott McTominay
Kylian Mbappe
Nuno Mendes
Joao Neves
Pedri
Cole Palmer
Michael Olise
Raphinha
Declan Rice
Fabian Ruiz
Virgil van Dijk
Vinicius Jr
Mohamed Salah
Florian Wirtz
Vitinha
Lamine Yamal
2025 Ballon d'Or Date
This year's winner will be announced in September
Ballon d'Or ceremony
The 2025 Ballon d'Or winner will be announced at a ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France, on September 22. It will be the 69th edition of the Ballon d'Or ceremony.
Per UEFA's website official website: "The 2025 awards will include the Men’s and Women's Ballon d'Or, Men’s and Women’s Kopa Trophy (best young player), Men’s and Women’s Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), Men’s and Women’s Gerd Muller Trophy (top scorer in club/national team), Men’s and Women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy (best coach in club/national team), Men’s and Women’s Club of the Year, and Socrates Award, presented by L’Équipe group and Peace and Sport, for solidarity actions or societal causes carried out by a committed champion."