Paris St-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele has won the Ballon d’Or, the award for the best player in the world, for the first time.
The 28-year-old French forward scored 35 goals and made 14 assists in 53 matches for PSG last season as they won the treble, including their first Champions League.
He was the joint top scorer in Ligue 1, with 21 goals, and was named the French top-flight and Champions League player of the year.
And he also helped PSG to the Club World Cup final, where they lost to Chelsea in New Jersey.
Dembele, who beat Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal to the award, was able to attend the ceremony in Paris despite the fact his team were playing on Monday evening.
The forward is currently sidelined through injury, meaning he missed PSG’s 1-0 home defeat by Marseille in a game which was rearranged because of a storm.
PSG manager Luis Enrique – who was named coach of the year – deserves huge credit for Dembele’s award because of a tactical switch in mid-December.
He moved Dembele from a wide right to centre-forward role against Lyon on 15 December, by which stage he had only scored five goals.
He hit 30 goals for PSG from that date onwards.
Dembele has finally shown the quality that persuaded Barcelona to pay an initial £96.8m, potentially rising to £135.5m, to sign him from Borussia Dortmund in 2017.
However, PSG – who were named team of the year at the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards – were the team who got the bargain by recruiting him for just £43.5m in 2023.
Dembele also scored twice in seven caps for France in 2024-25.
He is the sixth Frenchman to win the award and only the second of the 21st century after Karim Benzema in 2022.
