By: Sports DeskUpdated: September 23, 2025 03:13 AM IST 3 min readDembele is the sixth Frenchman to have won the award, with the most recent Ballon d'Or winner from the country being Karim Benzema in 2022. (AP Photo)Paris St Germain and France forward Ousmane Dembele won the 2025 Ballon d’Or on Monday. Dembele beat Barcelona and Spain wonderkid Lamine Yamal to the prestigious award, having powered PSG to the Champions League title last season, with the side beating Inter Milan 5-0 in the final, along with the French league and Coupe de France. Spain and Barcelona great Aitana Bonmati won the Women’s Ballon d’Or, thus joining Lionel Messi and Michele Plattini as the only player overall to have won the award three times in a row.Dembele is the sixth Frenchman to lift the award, with the most recent Ballon d’Or winner from the country being Karim Benzema in 2022. His PSG teammate Vitinha took third plce. It marks a remarkable turnaround for the 28-year-old, whose career had pretty much stalled at Barcelona between 2017 and 2023 after a big money to the Catalan giants from Borussia Dortmund, where he had emerged as one of the brightest talents in the world.“What I have just experienced is exceptional, I have no words for it, what happened with PSG. I feel a bit of stress, it’s not easy to win this trophy, and to have it presented to me by Ronaldinho, a legend of football, is exceptional,” Dembele said on stage at a Paris ceremony where he was supported by several teammates, the others being in Marseille for the Ligue 1 clash against OM which they lost 1-0.“I want to thank PSG who came to get me in 2023. It’s an incredible family. The president Nasser (Al-Khelaifi) is like a father to me. I also want to thank all the staff and the coach, who have been exceptional with me — he too is like a father — and all my teammates.“We have practically won everything together. You supported me in the good and the difficult times. This individual trophy is one the team has won collectively,” he added, later bursting into tears when he thanked his mother who joined him on stage.As many as nine PSG players were in the final list of 30 for the Ballon d’Or. Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was nominated as a PSG player despite having recently moved to Manchester City, won the Yachine Trophy for best goalkeeper while head coach Luis Enrique won the Johan Cruyff award for best coach. PSG also won the best club of the year trophy.Spain’s Bonmati, the Champions League player of the season, won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the third time in a row, while England’s Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman was honoured as women’s coach of the year after leading her side to the European title.(With Reuters inputs)© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Ballon d'Or