Mohamed Salah Overtakes Lamine Yamal, Ties Ousmane Dembele in Latest Ballon d’Or Ranking
- The Ballon d'Or Award ceremony is about six weeks away, and different rankings have emerged online
- Quadruple winners Paris Saint-Germain dominated the nominees list, with Ousmane Dembele expected to win
- A recent ranking online has reduced his chances of winning, and he is currently tied with another player on points
Ousmane Dembele has a new challenger in the 2025 Ballon d'Or race after a ranking done based on fans' opinion ahead of the award ceremony next month.
Dembele is widely viewed as the favourite to win the award after a brilliant season with Paris Saint-Germain, during which he helped the club win their first-ever UEFA Champions League.
Source: Getty Images
France Football announced the list of nominees in the voting categories on August 7, and different rankings have surfaced on social media.
Salah overtakes Yamal in Ballon d'Or ranking
According to Give Me Sport, a new ranking has emerged, compiled based on fans’ votes, and it brings a new twist to the ongoing Ballon d'Or race.
Ousmane Dembele and Mohamed Salah were tied on votes with 28% each, while Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal was third with 18% of the votes.
However, the fans believe Yamal should win the Kopa Trophy ahead of Paris Saint-Germain star Desire Doue, thus becoming the first person to win it twice.
Mohamed Salah vs Ousmane Dembele
The fans' poll had Salah and Dembele tied in the number of votes, and it prompts the question: how could they be separated in such a case?
Both players were the best for their teams, Liverpool and PSG, as well as in their leagues, the English Premier League and the French Ligue 1.
The Egyptian winger slightly surpassed the Frenchman in individual stats, which gives him an advantage in case both are measured with the same metric.
Salah scored an impressive 34 goals and provided 23 assists in 52 matches in all competitions for Arne Slot’s side last season.
The former Barcelona man, on the other hand, scored 35 goals in all competitions, one more than Salah and provided a further 16 assists, seven less than the Premier League star.
However, the jury is not expected to favour the former Chelsea forward as Dembele reached the final of the UEFA Champions League and also participated in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Source: Getty Images
Van Dijk tips Salah to win Ballon d'Or
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was one of the four players from Premier League champions nominated for the Ballon d'Or and the only centre-back in the top 30.
The Dutch defender has chosen to back Salah over himself, Alexis Mac Allister and summer signing Florian Wirtz, who arrived from Bayer Leverkusen.
“Ridiculous numbers. If he wins the Ballon d’Or, then no one could argue,” he told The Athletic.
Predicted winners of 2025 Ballon d'Or
Legit.ng analysed the predicted winners of the 2025 Ballon d'Or after France Football announced the nominees for the men's and women's categories.
PSG attacker Ousmane Dembele is predicted to win the men's award ahead of Lamine Yamal despite the youngster's brilliant individual season.
Source: Legit.ng
