2025 Ballon d’Or: Winners, Rankings Reveal—As It Happened

All eyes are on Paris as the best players in the world come together on the red carpet.

Toby Cudworth

The coveted Ballon d’Or was first awarded in 1956. / FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony took place at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, crowning the best men’s and best women’s players in the world. Read on to see how Sports Illustrated covered the event in real time.

READ MORE ON THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE BALLON D’OR

Toby Cudworth

Toby Cudworth is Lead Editor for SI FC. A Premier League, EFL and UEFA accredited journalist, Cudworth is a graduate of the University of Gloucestershire, where he studied Broadcast Journalism. He previously worked for 90min as a writer, academy manager, editor and eventually content lead, before joining Sports Illustrated in May 2025. A lifelong supporter of West Ham United, he still can’t quite believe they won a European trophy and feels nature is healing now that results have slipped back into the yo-yo patterns of the last 30 years.