An FC Barcelona star won the Ballon d’Or in Paris on Monday evening.
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FC Barcelona stars Lamine Yamal, Aitana Bonmati and Vicky Lopez all won awards at France Football’s star-studded Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday evening.
Lamine came up short for the best male player award, which was taken home by his former teammate Ousmane Dembele as the teenager finished second.
Dembele thanked Barca and all his former employers in a tearful acceptance speech, before eventually being joined on stage by his mother.
While Lamine won a Spanish treble with his club last season, Dembele scooped all the French trophies on offer and also a maiden Champions League crown for himself and PSG which was enough to convince a voting panel made up of 100 journalists.
Those achievements won PSG the best male club gong – with the female equivalent going to Arsenal as Barca missed out twice in that area – and Luis Enrique the men’s Johan Cruyff Trophy winner for being the best male coach.
One of the biggest shocks of the night was Pedri, considered one of the best midfielders in the world, finishing in 11th place for the best male player award. Yet even further down the pecking order was Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr., a runner up in 2024 to Rodri dropping down to 16th on this occasion.
Still some way off taking home soccer’s highest individual prize, Kylian Mbappe finished seventh at the same time fifth was the furthest Raphinha could get despite his fantastic 2024/2025 season.
There was still success for Lamine elsewhere, however, as he won the Kopa Trophy for the second year running.
Vicky Lopez secured its female equivalent, in the award that is given to the best players under the age of 21 and voted by a jury of former Ballon d’Or winners.
Here’s the list of Ballon d’Or winners in full:
Ballon d’Or
Ousmane Dembele (Paris SG/France)
Aitana Bonmati (FC Barcelona/Spain)
Kopa Trophy
Lamine Yamal (FC Barcelona/France)
Vicky López (FC Barcelona/Spain)
Johan Cruyff Trophy
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Sarina Wiegman (England)
Yashin Award
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain/Manchester City/Italy)
Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England)
Gerd Muller Trophy
Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting Lisbon/Arsenal/Sweden)
Ewa Pajor (Barcelona/Poland)
Club of the Year
PSG (men’s team)
Arsenal (women’s team)
Socrates Award
Xana Foundation
The best female trophy award stayed with FC Barcelona
While FC Barcelona is still yet to boast a best male player winner since Lionel Messi in 2019, Bonmati took home the best female player for the third year running.
“It’s incredible, this feeling. I never thought, when I was a kid, I could achieve this. I didn’t think women’s football could exist like this,” Bonmati said.
“We are more than footballers, we are living by example. The new generation can dream of being footballers.”
With Alexia Putellas winning twice before her back-to-back earlier this decade, the award has gone to an FC Barcelona player for the last five editions of the Ballon d’Or awards.