2025 Ballon d'Or nominations: Messi, Ronaldo continue to be absent

On the evening of August 7, the famous magazine France Football officially announced the list of nominees for the 2025 Golden Ball award. As expected, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continued to be absent.

Messi and Ronaldo had a successful year on an individual basis, but the tournaments they participated in were not highly appreciated. Messi scored 33 goals, assisted 9 goals in 39 matches for Inter Miami, contributing greatly to the club's first MLS championship at the end of last year. Meanwhile, Ronaldo had an even better record. The 39-year-old veteran scored 35 goals, assisted 4 goals in 41 matches for Al Nassr. At the international level, he was the captain of the Portuguese team that won the 2025 Nations League.

Besides Messi and Ronaldo, another star is also missing very regrettably. The most notable of which is the current Ballon d'Or winner Rodri. The Spanish midfielder suffered a torn ligament injury and missed most of last season.

Dembele and Yamal have no rivals in the race for the 2025 Ballon d'Or

On the other hand, many names were unexpectedly mentioned. Most notably, Scott McTominay of Napoli. McTominay was heavily criticized at MU, but he quickly shone in his first season away from Old Trafford. This midfielder was a pillar in helping Napoli overcome Inter Milan to win Serie A. In addition, there were no surprises in France Football's list.

Teams that have successfully competed and won titles in the 2024/25 season in Europe's top leagues all have many players participating. The reigning Champions League champion PSG has 8 nominations, including Donnarumma, Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Joao Neves, Doue, Kvaratskhelia and Dembele. Of which, Dembele is considered the number 1 candidate for this year's title.

Dembele's main rival is Barca's young talent, Yamal. After helping Spain win EURO 2024, Yamal continued to rise strongly and became the number 1 star at Camp Nou at the age of 17. This striker contributed greatly to helping Barca win La Liga, win the Spanish Super Cup and King's Cup, as well as reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

Of the 30 nominees, only Viktor Gyokeres made it thanks to his achievements at a club outside of Europe's top five leagues (Portugal's Sporting). Currently, this striker has also moved to Arsenal.

List of nominations for the 2025 Golden Ball

30 nominations: Ousmane Dembele, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jude Bellingham, Desire Doue, Denzel Dumfries, Serhou Guirassy, Erling Haaland, Viktor Gyokeres, Achraf Hakimi, Harry Kane, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Robert Lewandowski, Alexis Mac Allister, Lautaro Martinez, Scott McTominay, Kylian Mbappe, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Pedri, Cole Palmer, Michael Olise, Raphinha, Declan Rice, Fabian Ruiz, Virgil van Dijk, Vinicius Jr, Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz, Vitinha, Lamine Yamal.