How the 2025 Ballon d'Or favourites have performed this season

With the 2024/25 season now behind us, Ladbrokes takes a closer look at the 2025 Ballon d'Or favourites and how they performed across the campaign.

Manchester City's Rodri is the current holder after picking up the award in October 2024, but an ACL injury in September of the same year means he hasn't kicked a ball since, opening the door for a new winner to be crowned - but which of the Ballon d'Or favourites has had the most impressive campaign so far?

Ousmane Dembele - the new front-runner - has been a revelation at PSG this season, helping his team win the Champions League with an excellent number of both goals and assists.

Dembele has been the main man for PSG this season, guiding them to another league title, and had his odds of winning the Ballon d'Or slashed after another exciting performance in the Champions League final, where he notched two assists.

The French champions are also the favourites to win the FIFA Club World Cup following their semi-final thrashing of Real Madrid.

After such a strong season, winning the Ballon d'Or would be the perfect way for Dembele to round off a campaign that not a lot of people would've seen coming, following his disappointing stint at Barca.

Dembele would become only the second Frenchman to win the award since 1998, following in Karim Benzema's footsteps from 2022.

The youngest player among the Ballon d'Or favourites, 17-year-old Lamine Yamal has blown the footballing world away since bursting onto the scene last season, becoming a key cog in Barcelona's trophy-winning machine.

Already a star player for Barca and Spain, who are the current favourites to win the 2026 World Cup, the teenager has plenty of years ahead of him to pick up football's top prizes, but his performances this season have already seen him justify his reputation as one of the world's best players.

Despite Spain losing the UEFA Nations League final in June, Yamal's global reputation has increased more and more over the season, with Barcelona claiming the domestic treble - sealed by the young winger's unbelievable goal at Espanyol.

Yamal would become the youngest player to ever win the Ballon d'Or, beating the record set by a 21-year-old Ronaldo back in 1997. Barcelona legend Lionel Messi was 22 when he picked up his first, so the stage is set for Lamine Yamal to make history.

The only player in this list to play their football outside of Spain, Mohamed Salah has put up astonishing numbers that have Liverpool in a position where they are not only Premier League champions, but also favourites to retain their title next season.

Winning the Premier League golden boot for the fourth time, the Egyptian set the league alight with his incredible consistency and effectiveness, with the winger agonisingly close to becoming the first player to score 30 goals and claim 20 assists in a single PL season.

Salah's form has also seen him emerge as the clear front-runner for this year's PFA Player of the Year Award, with the talismanic forward looking to win the coveted prize for a record third time since signing for Liverpool back in 2017.

This season has seen the 33-year-old rise into the top five in the list of all-time Premier League record goalscorers, closing in on 200 league goals, and becoming the first African to win the Ballon d'Or since 1995 would be the perfect way to celebrate.

Raphinha is currently among the bookies' tips to win the Ballon d'Or in October 2025, thanks to his hugely influential campaign with both Barcelona and Brazil.

With more than 50 goal contributions this season, the winger has become an integral player for club and country, and is a huge reason why Barca were among the favourites to win this season's Champions League - before losing their epic semi-final to Inter.

The Brazilian was the top scorer in the competition, with crucial goals against Benfica and a hattrick against Bayern proving he can also perform when the games truly matter - something all jurors are sure to take into account when voting.

The Catalan club have had an excellent 2025, which will certainly be working in Raphinha's favour, with team trophies often playing a significant role in the final Ballon d'Or standings.

With the Copa del Rey and La Liga both clinched, the Brazilian has an excellent chance to end the season with multiple individual awards to his name - which is exactly why the bookies are backing him.

The second Paris Saint-Germain player to feature in our list of favourites, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has truly emerged as one of the world's best wingers this season, with consistently dangerous performances in Ligue 1 and the Champions League.

The Georgian scored crucial goals against Aston Villa and Inter on PSG's memorable run to their first ever Champions League triumph, and continued his impressive form into the FIFA Club World Cup - where PSG lost the final to an eye-catching Chelsea side.

As the season progressed, Kvaratskhelia just kept getting better and better, and continued to write headlines alongside the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue - who may count himself unlucky not to be in the running for the 2025 Ballon d'Or.

Kvaratskhelia would become the first Georgian player to ever win the coveted prize, joining the likes of Luka Modric and Pavel Nedved as their country's sole winner, and lifting the trophy would cap off a phenomenal first season in Paris.

The only Englishman to make the list of Ladbrokes' favourites to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or, Cole Palmer has come from nowhere to become one of the Premier League's best players over the last couple of seasons - and he's translated that to the world stage.

After Chelsea's somewhat surprising drubbing of PSG in the FIFA Club World Cup final, and Palmer's immaculate brace, his creative midfielder's odds dropped drastically - and based on his form over the last two seasons, this recognition is more than deserved.

31 goals and assists this season are added to 40 last term, putting into perspective just how effective Palmer has become for Chelsea. A couple of trophy wins for Chelsea have also helped his case for the Ballon d'Or, slashing his odds and cementing him firmly among the front-runners for the prize.

Back to Spain and into the capital, Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe is no stranger to being grouped with football's elite players, with a World Cup and over 350 career goals already to his name.

Since exploding onto the world scene in 2017, the French forward has consistently delivered the goals and assists to match his electric performances - something he has continued to do at Real Madrid, scoring in every possible club competition last season.

Since his high-profile transfer to Real Madrid in the summer, the former PSG man has continued to show why the bookies regularly tip him for football's top awards, taking to the Bernabeu with little fuss and cementing his spot as one of the greatest footballers on the planet.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.