Occasionally Ballon d’Or winners, most recently Ousmane Dembele 2025

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ballon d’Or is known as the most prestigious award in the world of football, which is awarded annually to the best players based on their brilliant performances.

Since its first edition in 1956, numerous big stars such as Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have registered their names as winners.

Now, adding to the list is Ousmane Dembele, who successfully won the 2025 Ballon d’Or title after leading Paris Saint-Germain to make Champions League history last season.

The following is a complete summary of Ousmane Dembele winning the 2025 Ballon d’Or, along with a list of winners of this prestigious award from time to time, compiled based on information from various sources.

Read also: Dembelé has never made the Ballon d’Or his main career goal

Ousmane Dembele won the Ballon d’Or for the men’s footballer category in 2025

Ousmane Dembele, French striker, won the 2025 Ballon d’Or in the best male footballer category. The announcement of Dembele’s win was made at an awards ceremony at the Theater du Chatelet, Paris, on Tuesday (23/9/2025) WIB early morning. He managed to beat several big names, including Lamine Yamal and Vitinha.

With this result, Dembele becomes the sixth French player to win this prestigious award, following in the footsteps of Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema.

According to AFP, this award was given as a form of appreciation for his contribution in leading Paris Saint-Germain to win the Champions League last season. At the age of 28, Dembele beat young Barcelona star and mainstay of the Spanish national team, Lamine Yamal. As with the previous edition, this title was also won by Rodri, midfielder of Manchester City and the Spanish national team.

Over the course of last season, the former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona player performed brilliantly with 35 goals in all competitions. This record helped PSG achieve a historic treble, winning Ligue 1, the French Cup and the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.

The Ballon d’Or was contested for the first time in 1956 on the initiative of France Football journalist Gabriel Hanot. Initially this award was intended only for European footballers, until in 1995 the rules were also extended to non-continental players.

George Weah became the first non-European footballer to win the award. The process of determining the winner of the Ballon d’Or takes place through a vote involving selected football journalists from various countries.

Read also: PSG manager Luis Enrique wins the 2025 Johan Cruyff Trophy

List of Ballon d’Or winners over time

Since its debut in 1956, the Ballon d’Or has produced many great stars in the history of world football. From Stanley Matthews, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, up to the latest winner Ousmane Dembélé. Messi himself is still listed as the greatest collector with eight Ballon d’Or titles.

Below is the complete list of winners:

• 1956 – Stanley Matthews (England)
• 1957 – Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)
• 1958 – Raymond Kopa (France)
• 1959 – Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)
• 1960 – Luis Suarez (Spain)

• 1961 – Omar Sivori (Italy)
• 1962 – Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)
• 1963 – Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)
• 1964 – Denis Law (Scotland)
• 1965 – Eusebio (Portugal)

• 1966 – Bobby Charlton (England)
• 1967 – Florian Albert (Hungary)
• 1968 – George Best (Northern Ireland)
• 1969 – Gianni Rivera (Italy)
• 1970 – Gerd Mueller (West Germany)

• 1971 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
• 1972 – Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)
• 1973 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
• 1974 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
• 1975 – Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union)

Read also: Complete list of rankings and winners of the 2025 Ballon d’Or

• 1976 – Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)
• 1977 – Allan Simonsen (Denmark)
• 1978 – Kevin Keegan (England)
• 1979 – Kevin Keegan (England)
• 1980 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)

• 1981 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)
• 1982 – Paolo Rossi (Italy)
• 1983 – Michel Platini (France)
• 1984 – Michel Platini (France)
• 1985 – Michel Platini (France)

• 1986 – Igor Belanov (Soviet Union)
• 1987 – Ruud Gullit (Holland)
• 1988 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
• 1989 – Marco van Basten (Holland)
• 1990 – Lothar Matthaus (Germany)

• 1991 – Jean-Pierre Papin (France)
• 1992 – Marco van Basten (Holland)
• 1993 – Roberto Baggio (Italy)
• 1994 – Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
• 1995 – George Weah (Liberia)

• 1996 – Matthias Sammer (Germany)
• 1997 – Ronaldo (Brazil)
• 1998 – Zinedine Zidane (France)
• 1999 – Rivaldo (Brazil)
• 2000 – Luis Figo (Portugal)

• 2001 – Michael Owen (England)
• 2002 – Ronaldo (Brazil)
• 2003 – Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)
• 2004 – Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
• 2005 – Ronaldinho (Brazil)

• 2006 – Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
• 2007 – Kakà (Brazil)
• 2008 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2009 – Lionel Messi (Argentina
• 2010 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)

• 2011 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2012 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2015 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)

• 2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
• 2018 – Luka Modric (Croatia)
• 2019 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2020 – no Ballon d’Or ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic

• 2021 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2022 – Karim Benzema (France)
• 2023 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
• 2024 – Rodri (Spain)
• 2025 – Ousmane Dembele (France)

Read also: Donnarumma wins the 2025 Yashin Trophy, equals Emiliano Martinez’s feat

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