Ballon d’Or: Updated Rankings After Ousmane Dembele Loses With PSG in Club World Cup Final
by Elijah Odetokun, https://www.facebook.com/legitngnews · Legit.ng News · Join- The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has come to an end with Chelsea as the inaugural winners of the tournament
- Chelsea handed UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain a humiliating 3-0 defeat
- Ballon d'Or favourite Ousmane Dembele had a performance to forget for PSG as the Blues tamed him
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Chelsea are the inaugural winners of the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup after beating Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the final at the MetLife Stadium on July 13.
The Blues shocked the world by putting up a disciplined and dominant performance to clip the wings of the UEFA Champions League winners.
Ousmane Dembele, who is heavily touted as the favourite to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or, had a performance to forget, like most of his teammates did.
Legit.ng looks at the updated Ballon d'Or top 5 rankings after Dembele’s performance in the Club World Cup final.
Updated Ballon d'Or rankings
1. Ousmane Dembele
France international Dembele remains the favourite to win the Golden Ball award as his performance in the final is unlikely to overshadow his fantastic season with the Parisians.
As noted by Transfermarkt, he started the competition in the knockout stages as he was recovering from an injury, yet he scored two goals and provided one assist in four games. He remains at the top as most of his rivals did not play in the tournament or had a poor outing.
2. Lamine Yamal
Yamal had an outstanding season with Barcelona, helping Hansi Flick's side win the La Liga and Copa del Rey and reach the UEFA Champions League semi-final all before he turned 18.
He had the chance to boost his chances in the UEFA Nations League, and despite a great performance against Dembele's France in the semi-final, he had a poor outing as Spain lost to Portugal in the final.
3. Raphinha
Raphinha was Barcelona’s and La Liga’s best player last season, but has been overshadowed by Yamal's brilliance despite contributing the most goals and assists for the team.
The Brazilian playmaker had a near all-timer performance in the UEFA Champions League, scoring the most goals and assists with 13 and eight, respectively, which would have been capped if Barcelona had won it.
4. Mohamed Salah
Salah has been overlooked lately because of Liverpool’s early exit from the Champions League, but an all-timer performance to help Liverpool win the Premier League was too good to ignore.
According to ESPN, he delivered 47 attacking contributions, 29 goals and 18 assists, a Premier League record. He became the first player to win the Golden Boot and Playmaker’s award twice, having also won it in the 2021/22 season.
5. Kylian Mbappe
Mbappe did not make a good account of himself at the Club World Cup. He missed the group stages after suffering gastroenteritis. He lost 5kg and was not the same in the knockout stage. However, his 43 goals in his debut season for Real Madrid make him a contender.
Mbappe picks his Ballon d'Or winner
Legit.ng previously reported that Kylian Mbappe picked Ousmane Dembele over Lamine Yamal as his winner for the 2025 Ballon d'Or.
The France national team captain acknowledged that rival Barcelona star has an outstanding season, but he will stand with his compatriot.
Proofreading by Omoleye Omoruyi, copy editor at Legit.ng.