Which players were nominated for the Ballon d'Or?

The Ballon d'Or (Image credit: Getty Images)

Ever since its launch in 1956, the Ballon d'Or award has been delivered to the best player in world football on an annual basis.

From Michel Platini to Johan Cruyff to Ronaldo to Zinedine Zidane, some of the greatest footballers to have walked the Earth have been lucky enough to receive this award.

The 69th edition of the Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place on September 22 at Paris' Théâtre du Châtelet, and as is customary, it will be revealed by magazine France Football. For the fourth time in the history of the award, it will be given based on the results of the season – August 1, 2024 through July 3, 2025 – instead of the calendar year.

Who was announced for the Ballon d'Or?

Old Trafford glory; the promised Ballon d’Or; “So you want me to try to look relaxed?” — Andriy Shevchenko won the Ballon d'Or thanks to his exploits at Milan (Image credit: Copyright (c) 2025 Shutterstock Editorial. No use without permission.)

France Football announced the 30 nominees on Thursday, a list that was devoid of five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who has won a record eight Ballon d'Or titles. However, it nevertheless featured a who's who of the best players in world football.

Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha have all been included in the 30 nominees for the 2025 Men's Ballon d'Or after playing a pivotal role in Barcelona's domestic treble. Newly crowned Bundesliga champions Harry Kane and Michael Olise have been included after guiding Bayern Munich to glory, whilst Borussia Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy has also made the cut.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has enjoyed a season to remember — Mohamed Salah is seeking to become the first Egyptian Ballon d'Or winner (Image credit: Getty Images)

The sole other Bundesliga inclusion was Florian Wirtz, who swapped Bayer Leverkusen for Liverpool in the summer for a Premier League-record fee of €125 million plus another €25 million in potential bonuses. He is joined by new teammates Alexis Mac Allister, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, who helped Liverpool put a stop to Manchester City's run of four straight Premier League titles and return to the apex of English football.

Whilst they were unable to win a single trophy, Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez and Denzel Dumfries have both been included. Inter fell to PSG in the UEFA Champions League Final and Milan in the Coppa Italia semifinals as well as Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana final, whilst they also missed out on the title on the final day of the season.

Despite losing Khvicha Kvaratshkelia (another nominee) to PSG midway through the season, Napoli managed to win the Scudetto thanks to a superb debut campaign from Scott McTominay, who racked up 13 goals and 6 assists in 39 appearances and delivered increasingly clutch performances as the season progressed.

Whereas McTominay is the sole Scottish nominee, there are a total of four English inclusions with Arsenal's Declan Rice and Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham joining Kane and Cole Palmer, the latter coming off a season that saw him win the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League with Chelsea. Norwegian striker Erling Haaland will be looking to become the second-straight Manchester City player to win the award, following in the footsteps of Rodri.

Chelsea forward Cole Palmer has scored 14 goals for the Blues so far this term — Cole Palmer is Chelsea's attacking talisman (Image credit: Getty Images)

After finishing as the top scorer in Europe and guiding Sporting to a second-straight league title, new Arsenal signing Viktor Gyokeres has cracked the threshold for the first time in his career, whilst Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe have joined Bellingham to represent the Real Madrid contingent.

It should come as no surprise that the best-represented club is Paris Saint-Germain, who are coming off a season that saw them win a second-straight domestic treble, reach the Club World Cup Final, and win their first-ever UEFA Champions League title.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, full-back tandem Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, attacking phenoms Desire Doue, Kvaratshkelia and Ousmane Dembele, midfield metronomes Fabian Ruiz, Joao Neves, and Vitinha will be proudly representing Les Parisiens next month. It speaks volumes about their dominance that, despite so many inclusions, there are quite a few PSG players who will rightly feel aggrieved to not be in the 30: Willian Pacho, Bradley Barcola, and Marquinhos.

PSG captain Marquinhos lifts the Champions League trophy aloft — PSG won their first Champions League title (Image credit: Getty Images)

From Julian Alvarez to Moises Caicedo to Alessandro Bastoni to Ryan Gravenberch to Gabriel to Yann Sommer to Joshua Kimmich to Alexander Isak, there are quite a few players who will be feeling that they were robbed of a spot in the Ballon d'Or nominees. Nevertheless, they will remain more eager than ever to right those wrongs in 2026 by making it into the list.

It remains to be seen which player will come away with the Ballon d'Or award, but one thing's for sure: we will be seeing a first-time Ballon d'Or winner on September 22.

Zach Lowy is a freelance football writer who covers a wide range of football leagues from Serie A to the Premier League to Ligue 1. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Zach has interviewed a wide range of players and ex-players such as Simão Sabrosa, Louis Saha, Andrés Villas-Boas and Diego Forlán. Over the past 6 and a half years, he has served as the co-creator of Breaking The Lines (@BTLVid on Twitter), the chief editor of the website and the main social media producer. Zach has also covered the Portuguese league on a consistent basis, interviewing players from various Primeira Liga clubs like Braga, Rio Ave, Famalicão, Tondela, Estoril Praia and Arouca. He has traveled to Russia and France to cover the World Cup and Toulon Tournament, respectively.

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