2025 Ballon d’Or power rankings: Is Cole Palmer now the favourite after CWC masterclass?
Rodri won last year’s Ballon d’Or after an exceptional 2024 for Manchester City and Spain, becoming only the third player not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim France Football’s prestigious golden ball since 2007.
But who will follow in Rodri’s footsteps this year?
Here’s our edition of the 2025 Ballon d’Or power rankings. Keep checking back as we’ll be keeping this one updated throughout the year.
10. Pedri (-1)
“Nobody deserves the Ballon d’Or more than Pedri, everyone knows what kind of a player he is,” says Gavi.
That’s nice of him. We don’t entirely agree, but Pedri was back to his very best in 2024-25 and is certainly worthy of consideration.
Rodri’s win last year brought an end to the Ballon d’Or’s era of flashy forwards and showed that an unheralded midfielder can be recognised for the very top prize, but we can’t see it happening two years in a row.
And if it is to go to a midfielder, there’s a certain PSG man who boasts a stronger claim…
9. Kylian Mbappe (-1)
We can’t see Mbappe winning the Ballon d’Or this year after Real Madrid’s failure to land any major silverware in his debut season.
Scoring a hat-trick in an El Clasico defeat that killed Los Blancos’ hopes of retaining their La Liga crown would’ve given Mbappe flashbacks to notching three in the last World Cup final and not getting his hands on the trophy.
But he did end up claiming a first career European Golden Shoe, which must count for something given the dysfunction around him.
Getting his hands on the Ballon d’Or is surely beyond him until 2026, especially after Madrid were dismantled by PSG in the Club World Cup semis.
8. Desire Doue (-1)
Two goals and an assist in a Champions League final? From a teenager?
Ridiculous stuff.
Doue didn’t quite do enough over the full season to put himself in the conversation, but that performance surely ensures he’ll get a nomination.
And he now appears a shoo-in for the Golden Boy award at the very least.
7. Raphinha (-1)
The Brazilian would’ve been the clear frontrunner were it not for Inter’s injury-time equaliser – and subsequent victory – in the Champions League semis.
Or if Yamal had tucked away either of the presentable chances he’d served up – which would’ve seen Raphinha notch one more assist and move ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time record for goal contributions in a European campaign.
As things are, the former Leeds United forward tied Ronaldo’s record – but that lost its lustre a little when he was absent in Munich.
Raphinha’s numbers have been off the charts this season. And he’s still won a domestic double (treble if you count the Super Cup).
He’s taken his game up another level and would be worthy of a place on the podium, but competition is particularly fierce this year.
6. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (-1)
Two league titles, a Champions League winner’s medal and a Club World Cup finalist? Some season, that.
Kvaradona wasn’t PSG’s standout in their masterclass-for-the-ages mauling of Inter Milan in the Chamoions League final.
But he still found himself on the scoresheet and added some stardust to proceedings.
We’re not sure there’s a more fun, unique talent around at the moment. A proper throwback and just a pure joy to watch.
5. Vitinha (-1)
We’ll hold our hands up. This was a massive oversight.
We originally held off on including Vitinha partly because there’s just so much quality in Luis Enrique’s well-oiled PSG machine.
Alongside the three other names in this ranking, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves have been brilliant in midfield. And there’s surely no better full-back pairing in world football now than Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi.
The Nations League, given its status in the game, will likely soon be forgotten. But it did offer us a reminder of quick how good Vitinha is – he’s continuing his flawless year and is worthy of singling out for praise.
READ: 9 legendary teams who didn’t have a Ballon d’Or winner: Barcelona, Spain, Man Utd…
4. Cole Palmer (NEW)
After a stellar 2023-24 campaign, Palmer started last season like a house on fire.
But his form dipped during the second half of the previous campaign, not helped by Chelsea’s staid league form, leaving many fans questioning Enzo Maresca for taming his own match-winning talent.
Happily, the young Mancunian returned to his best for the Club World Cup in the United States.
Palmer was the Player of the Match in the final against PSG, scoring twice and providing an assist, during Chelsea’s crushing 3-0 win.
A unique and superb player, Palmer will continue to thrive if given leverage in Maresca’s system. You’d be foolish not to allow him that.
3. Lamine Yamal (=)
Football’s most exciting wonderkid can’t compete with Salah or his Barca team-mate Raphinha when it came to numbers in 2024-25.
Yamal’s goals and assists were ridiculous for a 17-year-old but not quite up there with Europe’s elite just yet.
Tons of players across Europe, including Fabio Silva and Danny Welbeck, scored more league goals in 2024-25 – and nobody is placing them in the Ballon d’Or conversation.
But forget all that. Just watch Lamine with the ball at his feet and tell us you’re not watching the best player in the world right now.
Think back to Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane or a young Messi and you get that same sense of wonder.
The opposite of Salah, he’s particularly come to life at this crucial juncture of the season.
He was astonishingly good in both legs of Barca’s Champions League semi, scored against Real Madrid and unleashed a brilliant strike in their title-clinching Catalan derby victory away to Espanyol.
PSG’s Champions League final victory, and Spain’s Nations League final defeat, probably puts the Ballon d’Or beyond him for now.
But he still has time on his side to become the youngest ever recipient.
2. Mohamed Salah (=)
Liverpool’s Egyptian King slowed down at the worst moment.
He notched just two goals and one assist in his last 10 appearances of the 2024-25 campaign, a run that saw Liverpool suffer a shock defeat to Newcastle United in the League Cup final and exit the Champions League at the Round of 16 stage.
Rarely, if ever, have you seen a Ballon d’Or winner so underwhelming at the business end of a campaign.
And yet – let’s be honest – it would be an absolute travesty if Salah doesn’t end up on the podium.
He was comfortably ahead of any other player across Europe’s major leagues for combined goals and assists and was Liverpool’s difference-maker as they made a procession of the 2024-25 Premier League title race.
For two-thirds of the season, he was on another planet. The best player by a country mile in the most competitive league in Europe.
Hopefully, come the Ballon d’Or in October, once the dust has settled, voters will remember and recognise what a brilliant year it was for Salah.
And given how well he tends to start seasons, don’t be surprised if he reminds the voters of his outrageous quality at just the right time.
READ: The 15 players who have made the Ballon d’Or podium ahead of Salah since 2018
1. Ousmane Dembele (=)
Like Salah, Dembele wasn’t quite at his brilliant best in the final run-in. Goals dried up in April and May.
But he still is – just about – the closest thing to a leading light in this superteam.
Dembele’s exceptional run of form mid-season helped turn PSG’s season around, while goals against Arsenal and Liverpool proved pivotal in clinching the club’s first-ever Champions League.
The Frenchman assisted the second in the mauling of Inter but he wasn’t quite the headline-maker in the final.
Spain’s 2010 World Cup winners had no Ballon d’Or winner. Nor did Bayern Munich’s 2012-13 treble winners.
And like those teams, PSG might just be so good collectively – we’ve not even included any of their superb midfielders! – that it’s to the detriment of any one individual’s candidacy.
He’s still the frontrunner, despite PSG’s dismal Club World Cup final loss to Chelsea.
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