Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal & Cole Palmer Among 30 Ballon d'Or 2025 Nominees

Every year, football fans and players around the world look forward to the presentation of the Ballon d'Or ceremony. The award, handed out by the French Football Federation, is widely seen as the most prestigious individual trophy in the sport. 

This time around, the list has a mix of players who can be considered veterans as well as a number of promising youngsters whose best years are still ahead of them. 

The ones most expected to be in the list include PSG winger Ousmane Dembele, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah and defender Virgil van Dijk, Barcelona wingers Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer and also the Real Madrid trio of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham. 

Manchester City forward Erling haaland is another notable name on the list, as is Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane. 

PSG rising stars Desire Doue, Nuno Mendes, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Vitinha also feature on the nominee list, as does Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy. 

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Who Are Ballon d'Or 2025 Favourites?

Many expected the shootout for the winner's trophy to be between Barcelona forward Raphinha and PSG's Ousmane Dembele, both of whom propelled their teams to multiple trophies last season. 

Dembele is the slight favourite given he was part of a PSG side that won the treble, including their maiden UEFA Champions League title. 

Defending title holder Rodri would have normally been a candidate but spent large parts of last season out injured and is therefore not even on the list. 

Among the Premier League clubs, Liverpool's Salah - who played a key part in the side lifting the title - seems the favourite behind Chelsea's Palmer, who won the UEFA Conference League as well as the FIFA Club World Cup title. 

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Full List of Ballon d'Or 2025 Nominees

Jude Bellingham, Ousmane Dembele, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Desire Doue, Denzel Dumfries, Serhou Guirassy, Viktor Gyokeres, Erling Haaland, Achraf Hakimi, Harry Kane, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Robert Lewandowski, Alexis Mac Allister, Lautaro Martinez, Kylian Mbappe, Scott McTominay, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Michael Olise, Cole Palmer, Pedri, Raphinha, Declan Rice, Fabian Ruiz, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Vinicius Jr, Vitinha, Florian Wirtz, Lamine Yamal.