Thanks to a very high-level second half of the season, Ousmane Dembélé surpassed all his competitors to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or. A key element of Luis Enrique’s PSG, the French international is preparing to play in the Champions League final this Saturday against Arsenal (6 p.m.). Seen from France, he remains the very clear favorite in his own right for this individual trophy.
Proof of this was given during a survey carried out for
The Team by the Ipsos BVA institute, from May 22 to 26. For the French invited to name their favorite for the 2026 Ballon d’Or, Ousmane Dembélé is by far the best candidate. The former Stade Rennais thus collected 32% of the votes.
His first competitor is also French, but he is very far behind. Kylian Mbappé is the latter and has 18% of the votes in his favor. The third player also comes from Paris Saint-Germain and is called Kvitcha Kvaratskhelia (15%). Moving forward, the gap widens even further. Chauvin, the sample of French respondents placed one of his own in fourth place with Michael Olise (8%).
Ousmane Dembélé in the Ballon d’Or roller coaster?
The Top 5 is completed by FC Barcelona star Lamine Yamal (7%). Before the final of the Champions League and before the 2026 World Cup is contested, this ranking of the Ballon d’Or, moreover from a strictly French point of view, is only a glimpse at a given moment of what the final ranking of the next Ballon d’Or could be.
In the meantime, the fact is that Ousmane Dembélé remains a credible candidate for his own succession. Since the creation of the trophy in 1956, only seven winners have managed to keep their prize from one year to the next.
