Top 10 favourites to win Ballon d'Or after end of Club World Cup 2025

None of the players on this list has ever won a Ballon d’Or before.

The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner will be crowned in September. Players made their final efforts for the award at the FIFA Club World Cup. The action in the United States reshuffled the deck.

Some stars rose, others bowed out. The race for the most prestigious award in world football is entering the final stretch, and there’s already a clear frontrunner. Unfortunately for Rodri, he could do nothing to defend his crown in 2025, having suffered a serious knee injury in September.

The door was opened for a whole host of players to succeed the Spanish star. Here we will take a look at the top 10 favourites to win the Ballon d’Or after the end of the Club World Cup 2025:

10. Nuno Mendes – PSG and Portugal

Trophies: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, UEFA Champions League, Trophee des Champions, UEFA Nations League

Full-backs are rarely recognised in the Ballon d’Or voting. But the campaign Mendes put together will be hard to ignore. The left-back is not only a dynamic operator when he opts to burst forward, but he’s proven himself to be an excellent one-on-one defender.

He performed exceptionally well against some top wingers this season. The man played a key role in his club and country’s success this year.

9. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – Napoli, PSG and Georgia

Trophies: Serie A (Napoli), Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Champions League

The Georgian international played a key role in Napoli’s brilliant performance before he moved to Paris. After joining PSG in the winter, he proved to be the superstar wide man who supplied Luis Enrique with enormous attacking power. There were multiple factors in PSG’s rise from the brink of the league phase Champions League elimination to dominant European Champions.

His arrival was undoubtedly one of the most significant.

8. Achraf Hakimi – PSG and Morocco

Trophies: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, UEFA Champions League, Trophee des Champions

The PSG star has been a consistently high performer for half a decade across his spells at Borussia Dortmund and Inter. He looks to be getting even better. Strong defensively while providing a threat in attacking areas, Hakimi scored some brilliant goals throughout this season.

The Moroccan international scored 13 goals and provided 17 assists being a full-back.

7. Cole Palmer – Chelsea and England

Trophies: UEFA Conference League, FIFA Club World Cup, Player of the Tournament of the Club World Cup

It was a season of two halves for the English international. Palmer kicked off the campaign in the same form in which he had finished the previous one, while leading Chelsea up to as high as second in the Premier League table. Unfortunately, his form dipped following the turn of the year, and the Blues lost the chance to win the Premier League, as they finished fourth in the table.

But somehow, he did perform for the club in the UEFA Conference League and helped them win the match against Real Betis in the finals. Once again in the Club World Cup, he showed his quality on the pitch. In the final, he performed brilliantly against the UCL winners PSG.

He scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists in the 2024-25 season.

6. Kylian Mbappe – Real Madrid and France

Trophies: Pichichi Trophy, European Golden Boot

The Frenchman may not have enjoyed the best start to life at Real Madrid that he or the club’s fans wanted (winning titles), but he still scored his fair share of goals and looked to have taken his game to another level. Despite having some brilliant numbers this season, he failed to win a major trophy with Madrid. The player has also been criticised a lot.

He scored 46 goals and provided seven assists for the Los Blancos. He will win the European Golden Boot for this season, but it looks like his wait for the Ballon d’Or is set to continue.

5. Mohamed Salah – Liverpool and Egypt

Trophies: Premier League, Premier League Golden Boot, Premier League Player of the Season, Premier League Playmaker Award

Earlier, there were many speculations regarding the Egyptian’s future at Liverpool. But that was put to stop in April after the player signed a new contract to commit him for a couple of more years. The Egyptian King has performed well under Arne Slot and played a key role in helping the Reds to become the Premier League champions.

Unfortunately, apart from the league title, they failed to win any other significant trophy this season. He scored 36 goals and provided 24 assists.

4. Raphinha – FC Barcelona and Brazil

Trophies: LaLiga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, LaLiga Player of the Season

There were many doubts and criticisms from the fans and board members regarding the Brazilian’s performance after Xavi’s departure. But under Hansi Flick, he has improved a lot. Moreover, his stats have also drastically improved.

Now he is one of the most important players of the club. His partnership with Lamine and Lewandowski was one of the best this season. Due to his performance in the Champions League, the Catalan club came close to winning the competition after many years.

3. Vitinha – PSG and Portugal

Trophies: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, UEFA Champions League, Trophee des Champions, UEFA Nations League

The Portuguese midfielder produced a campaign of football well worthy of a podium finish. He is the heartbeat of PSG’s and Portugal’s midfield. Vitinha is someone who controls the tempo of the game very well.

Despite being short, he is someone who can beat any opposition with his trickery and body feints. He is incredibly smart and has been a joy to watch this season.

2. Lamine Yamal – FC Barcelona and Spain

Trophies: LaLiga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, LaLiga U-23 Player of the season

Even though his stats may not look very impressive but his impact is clearly visible for FC Barcelona and the Spanish Team. Teenager Yamal is nothing short of a freak of nature. There was no one else in the world who was performing as masterfully as the Spaniard week in, week out.

Yamal boasts the sort of gravitational pull that only the greats possess when the ball is at his feet. He scored 21 goals and provided 23 assists this season.

1. Ousmane Dembele – PSG and France

Trophies: Ligue 1, Coupe de France, UEFA Champions League, Trophee des Champions

Even since he left Borussia Dortmund for Barcelona, the Frenchman has frustrated fans more than he’s delighted them, despite clearly being a player of rare ability. Dembele finally found his home at PSG. Under the guidance of Luis Enrique, he has become an all-around attacker.

Dembele was the one who performed at the big games, where he scored and provided assists. Dembele worked really hard on the pitch and pressed like a madman off the ball. He scored 37 goals and provided 16 assists this season.

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