Home Football InternationalBallon d’Or 2025: Full Guide to Date, Venue, Nominees, Categories, and How winners are decided

Ballon d’Or 2025: Full Guide to Date, Venue, Nominees, Categories, and How winners are decided

Sep 22, 2025 01:06 PM GMT+00:00

SportsLigue

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Ballon d’Or 2025: Full Guide to Date, Venue, Nominees, Categories, and How winners are decided

The 69th Ballon d’Or awards ceremony will be staged at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on Monday, September 22, 2025. Co-organised by UEFA and Groupe Amaury (publishers of France Football and L’Équipe), the gala celebrates the very best in world football from the 2024/25 season.

The event will not only crown the winners of the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or but also honour goalkeepers, young players, coaches, top scorers, and the best clubs. A special humanitarian prize, the Sócrates Award, will again highlight football’s power for social impact.

This year introduces three new women’s categories: the Women’s Yashin Trophy, Women’s Gerd Müller Trophy, and Women’s Kopa Trophy, ensuring women’s football receives equal recognition across all award areas.

What is the Ballon d’Or?

First presented in 1956 by France Football, the Ballon d’Or is widely considered the most prestigious individual honour in football. It rewards outstanding individual performance, team achievements, and fair play.

Originally restricted to European players, eligibility was expanded to all players in Europe in 1995, and then globally in 2007. In 2018, the Ballon d’Or Féminin was introduced to recognise the best female footballers in the world.

2025 Ballon d’Or Award Categories

Here are the trophies to be presented in Paris this year:

Men’s Ballon d’Or – best male player of 2024/25
Women’s Ballon d’Or – best female player of 2024/25
Men’s Kopa Trophy – best young player
Women’s Kopa Trophy – best young player
Men’s Yashin Trophy – best goalkeeper
Women’s Yashin Trophy – best goalkeeper
Men’s Gerd Müller Trophy – top scorer
Women’s Gerd Müller Trophy – top scorer
Men’s Johan Cruyff Trophy – best coach
Women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy – best coach
Men’s Club of the Year Trophy
Women’s Club of the Year Trophy
Sócrates Award – humanitarian achievement

Ballon d’Or 2025 Nominees

Men’s Ballon d’Or shortlist

Names like Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), and Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) headline a stacked men’s list. Other standout nominees include Harry Kane, Lautaro Martínez, Declan Rice, Florian Wirtz, and rising star Lamine Yamal.

Women’s Ballon d’Or shortlist

The women’s list is equally competitive, with Aitana Bonmatí aiming to defend her crown. She’s joined by icons like Alexia Putellas, Caroline Graham Hansen, Lucy Bronze, Barbra Banda, and Leah Williamson, alongside emerging talents such as Clàudia Pina, Linda Caicedo, and Emily Fox.

How is the Ballon d’Or decided?

The process remains independent and journalist-led despite UEFA’s partnership. Voting is conducted by a panel of:

100 journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations (men’s award)
50 journalists from the top 50 nations (women’s award)

Each juror ranks 10 players from the shortlist, awarding points on a sliding scale from 15 points (first place) down to 1 point (tenth place).

The main criteria are

Individual brilliance and decisive performances
Team success and collective achievements
Fair play and conduct on and off the pitch

In the event of a tie, the number of first-place votes decides the winner.

Who hosted the Ballon d’Or 2025 ceremony?

The gala will be fronted by Ruud Gullit, the Dutch legend and former Ballon d’Or winner, alongside Kate Scott, one of Britain’s most recognisable sports broadcasters.

Recent Ballon d’Or winners

2024 Men’s Ballon d’Or: Rodri (Spain, Manchester City)
2024 Women’s Ballon d’Or: Aitana Bonmatí (Spain, Barcelona)
2023 Men’s Ballon d’Or: Lionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami)
2022 Men’s Ballon d’Or: Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid)
2019–2021: Lionel Messi (x2), not awarded in 2020 due to COVID-19

Why Ballon d’Or 2025 matters

This year’s awards could mark the start of a new era. With Messi and Ronaldo no longer in contention, names like Bellingham, Mbappé, Haaland, Bonmatí, and Yamal are taking centre stage. The inclusion of new women’s trophies further underlines the ceremony’s evolution into a truly global and gender-equal celebration of football’s elite.