Dembélé Clinches Ballon d’Or: A Historic Win for France

Ousmane Dembélé was awarded the Ballon d’Or France Football, becoming the sixth French player to achieve this honor, following legends like Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane, and Karim Benzema. With this win, France, now holding eight Ballon d’Or trophies, stands alongside Lionel Messi and Argentina as the nations with the most titles. Dembélé secured his victory with a substantial lead of 321 points over his closest rival, Lamine Yamal, making his triumph more decisive compared to the tight contest seen in 2024. He topped the votes 73 times from a panel of 100 jurors, significantly outpacing Yamal, who was in first place just 11 times. Other notable players in the top 10 included Vitinha, Mohamed Salah, Achraf Hakimi, Kylian Mbappé, and surprising mentions like Khvitcha Kvaratskhelia and Scott McTominay. The scoring pointed out that Dembélé amassed a total of 1,380 points, while Yamal had 1,059 points, followed by Vitinha with 703 points and Mohamed Salah with 657 points.

SOURCE: L’ÉQUIPE