Zlatan Ibrahimovic Claims Lamine Yamal Deserved Ballon d’Or for One Key Reason

The soccer icon snubbed Ousmane Dembélé despite better individual numbers and European silverware.

Zlatan Ibrahimović (left) backed Lamine Yamal (right) over winner Ousmane Dembélé. / Image Photo Agency/Getty Images, Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Zlatan Ibrahimović admitted he would have given the 2025 Ballon d’Or to Lamine Yamal over Ousmane Dembélé, saying the former made more of an individual difference.

The Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious individual award given each year in soccer. Dembélé won the 2025 honor after guiding Paris Saint-Germain to their first Champions League trophy. Though, Ibrahimović, formerly of Barcelona, PSG and Manchester United, would have given it to the 18-year-old phenom.

Both players were widely considered the two favorites coming into the ceremony, though Ibrahimović would have rewritten history if he was the determining vote.

“You have to judge the player on his ability to make a difference individually. For me, Yamal did. I would have given it to Yamal,” Ibrahimović said to Gazzetta dello Sport at the Festival dello Sport di Trento.

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Yamal Dreams of Multiple Ballon d’Ors

Yamal was named the best Under-21 player in the world for the second straight year. / Judit Cartiel/Getty Images

The personal numbers, and European silverware, were in the eventual winner’s favor.

Dembélé finished 2024–25 with 35 goals and 16 assists across all competitions winning a historic quadruple. Yamal, who won a domestic treble with Barcelona, had 18 goals and 25 assists. Winning the Champions League in the manner PSG did, and his goal contributions, likely played a big role in determining how voters casted ballots.

Still, Yamal made more of a difference individually in Ibrahimović’s eyes.

Ballon d’Or Winners. 2025 Ballon d’Or: Complete Rankings for Every Award. dark. Next

The Spaniard didn’t leave the September ceremony empty handed, though, claiming a second consecutive Kopa Trophy—the award given to the best player under 21 years old. In doing so, he became the first player to win the prize back-to-back.

“God’s plan is perfect, you have to climb to get to the top,” Yamal said after the ceremony. “Happy for the Kopa trophy x2 and congratulate Dembélé for the award and the great season.”

The 18-year-old made his feelings public in regards to chasing the top prize. “I told my friends, I don’t dream about winning a Ballon d’Or, I dream about winning many,” Yamal revealed earlier in the year.

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2025 Ballon d’Or Voting Breakdown: Top 10

Ranking	Player	Country, Club	Points
1	Ousmane Dembélé	France, Paris Saint-Germain	1,380
2	Lamine Yamal	Spain, Barcelona	1,059
3	Vitinha	Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain	703
4	Mohamed Salah	Egypt, Liverpool	657
5	Raphinha	Brazil, Barcelona	620
6	Achraf Hakimi	Morocco, Paris Saint-Germain	484
7	Kylian Mbappé	France, Real Madrid	378
8	Cole Palmer	England, Chelsea	211
9	Gianluigi Donnarumma	Italy, Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester City	172
10	Nuno Mendes	Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain	171

Dembélé earned 73 first-place votes compared to Yamal’s 11. That difference led to a comfortable gap between the pair at the top of the standings. The two players were the only to receive over 1,000 voting points.

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