Latest news with #Ballon dOr
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Achraf Hakimi: "I deserve the Ballon d'Or 2025"
While many expect a showdown between Ousmane Dembélé and Lamine Yamal for the 2025 Ballon d'Or, Achraf Hakimi is also dreaming of clinching this prestigious award. At least that's what the Moroccan full-back stated in an interview with Canal+. Named among the nominees alongside eight of his teammates, Achraf Hakimi is convinced he deserves the 2025 Ballon d'Or. "When people put me in the Ballon d'Or debate, it's a dream I never dared to imagine. If I have the chance to win it, I think I deserve it too. After the historic season I've had—there aren't many players who have scored in the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final—especially as a defender. People often think I'm a forward or midfielder, but no, I play in a back four and my job is to defend. The stats I've put up this year, they're not those of a typical defender. I believe that when a defender achieves that, he deserves it even more than an attacker." Hakimi explained in his interview with Canal+.
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
☕️🥐FC Breakfast: PSG smash huge record, a truly unbelievable miss
Mbappé true to his post 💪 Even if he still hasn't achieved the ultimate prize and will probably have to wait a bit longer, Mbappé at least has the merit of being among the 30 Ballon d'Or nominees every year since 2017. He is the only player to accomplish this feat. Consistency. PSG alone at the top 😱 Nothing more normal given the exceptional season achieved by Luis Enrique's men. While Dembélé is the overwhelming favorite for the title, he is joined by 8 teammates on the list of 30 nominees, a first in history. The Parisian domination on the European stage is monstrous! WTF! Too sure of himself, he misses an open goal 🤣 Never count your chickens before they hatch! This player goes alone towards goal, rounds the goalkeeper, and only has to tap the ball into the net. It was way too early to celebrate. Special mention to the defender's comeback! The return dates of the major leagues 🗓 Mark your calendars! Transfermarkt has created a visual for you with the return dates of the various leagues. We know the wait is getting long; just a little more patience, football is coming back! The must-sees from yesterday 🍿 - 💰 Transfer update for August 7 - Mercato PSG - Lucas Chevalier expected this Thursday evening in Paris! - OM has signed a new recruit This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here. 📸 FRANCK FIFE - AFP or licensors
New York Times
07-08-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Who should win the women's Ballon d'Or: Aitana Bonmati, Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly?
Who should win the women's Ballon d'Or this year? Today, the 30 nominees for the prize were announced. On September 22, one will be crowned the best player in world football at a ceremony in Paris. Five members of England's Euro 2025-winning squad make the list, along with six Barcelona players and United States representation from Lindsey Heaps and Emily Fox. Here, The Athletic's expert writers have their say on who deserves the accolade. Let us know your picks in the comments below, too. Some think the Ballon d'Or should go to the player with the biggest, shiniest trophies. This year, that's Alessia Russo: European champion with club and country and joint-top scorer in the Women's Super League (WSL). The argument could stop there, but that would do her a real disservice. Russo is much more than just a winner, goalscorer, or burst of glitter — she has developed into a complete package. Advertisement Her link-up play and creativity, her intelligent movement and tenacity, matter just as much to her team-mates' goals as her own — take her vision and hold-up play to assist Lauren James' opener against the Netherlands. We mostly term defenders or holding midfielders as workhorses, but the effort she showed as the leader of England's press at the European Championship was superhuman. Russo is more than just the finisher: she is willing to do the hard yards that make trophy runs possible. And, of course, she scores the important goals along the way too. Cerys Jones Aitana Bonmati has won a third of the six women's Ballon d'Or awards, and three in a row is now on the cards. The 27-year-old midfielder has been the beating heart of Barcelona and the Spanish national team for years. She provides silk and steel, the control amid the chaos. She was desperately close to winning Liga F, the Champions League, and the European Championship this year. That Barcelona and Spain fell just short in the latter two finals, against Arsenal and England, should not obscure her almost otherworldly brilliance. Max Mathews 'If (during a match) you focus only on Patri, you can't help but smile,' Spain's Vicky Lopez said at a press conference in Lausanne this July. 'She may not put on much of a show, but if you watch her…' Patri Guijarro did not win the Champions League with Barca or the Euros with Spain, finishing as a runner-up in both competitions, but how many players can say they were the best in a competition they did not win? Even if Bonmati won the official award for best player at the Euros, Guijarro could just as easily have laid claim to it. She was the only Spain player to convert in the final penalty shootout against England. She is a complete player, arguably the most consistent in Europe last season. She plays passes nobody else sees and helps bring out the best in her two Ballon d'Or-winning team-mates — Bonmati and Alexia Putellas. Advertisement Her understated midfield role means she will almost certainly miss out on individual awards. She is unlikely to appear in highlights packages and rarely scores or prevents goals, but she is the key cog in two of the best teams in the world — in much the same way as her compatriot Rodri is for Manchester City and Spain's men's teams. Laia Cervello Herrero The thing about Mariona Caldentey is that nothing good happens without her. The 29-year-old joined Arsenal from Barcelona with more than 20 trophies, yet somehow managed to announce herself to the world. Her WSL stats — accomplished while operating abnormally deep in midfield — are brain-breaking. She was first for shot-creating actions (104), progressive passes (199), passes into the penalty area (65), and expected assists (6.9). She was joint-third for goals plus assists (14), passes into the final third (142), key passes (43), tackles attempted (74), and tackles completed (54). The numbers reflect a consummate footballing beast, a player who interprets (and subsequently devours) the game at a different pitch to those around her. Caldentey has delivered big moments, too — just think of her header in the Euro 2025 final and a performance for the ages against her former club Barca, as Arsenal won a first Champions League trophy since 2007. Honestly, just bring out the Ballon d'Or now. Megan Feringa There have been points in Lucy Bronze's long and successful career when she has been the world's very best player. Right now, the 29-time major trophy winner is not the undisputed No 1. But at the same time, the flying full-back is showing the next generation what it takes to continue playing at an elite level at 33 years old. It can mean strapping up your own thigh with tape mid-game or even playing, oh, I don't know, with a fractured tibia. A treble winner with Chelsea last season and a European champion once again with England this summer, a Ballon d'Or for Bronze, who came second to Megan Rapinoe in 2019, would be a win for not just her achievements this year, but her career overall. A win for perseverance, patience, and at times, her utter dominance. Caoimhe O'Neill I've already made the case for Russo, but if I'm to back another English player, it's at the opposite end of the pitch. Plenty of people come for Hannah Hampton's story — the goalkeeper who was told she could never play professional sport as a child, who fought to reclaim her England place after being omitted from multiple squads, who came under extra spotlight when Mary Earps retired from international football before this summer's European Championship — but they stay for her goalkeeping talents. Advertisement The 24-year-old doesn't specialise in either shot-stopping or ball-playing, but excels at both. Russo played a crucial role in that James goal against the Netherlands, but that was only possible because Hampton hit a pinpoint pass more than half the length of the pitch, a ball few outfielders would have had the right to strike so accurately, let alone a goalkeeper. Her four penalty saves (yes, four) are the stops that will stick in people's minds, but England could not have even reached those shootouts against Sweden and Spain without Hampton being near-faultless throughout normal and extra time. It would be extraordinary for a goalkeeper to win the Ballon d'Or, but then so is Hampton. Cerys Jones I'm meant to make a case for Chloe Kelly in 100(ish) words — a task that feels impossible. To start with, there's her penalty run-up — the England and Arsenal winger's purposeful arresting of attention, how she makes us wait and ultimately beg for the crashing of an inevitable tidal wave. There are her crosses — deft moments of craftsmanship under blinding pressure. And there is her sheer ability to shoot, which feels like a useless word to describe what happens when Kelly's foot meets synthetic leather. More than anything, there is the Euro 2025 and Champions League winner's timing. Who else can transform a domestic and international season into her image, having only played in (at a stretch) half of it? Who else can be so reliable as to become a cliche in a matter of six months? Sport has clutch players, and it has Kelly. A European champion of incorrigible, unflappable self-conviction with the talent to back it up. Megan Feringa I met Esther Gonzalez just weeks after she won the World Cup in Australia. We were at renowned Spanish chef Jose Andres' Mercado Little Spain in Hudson Yards, New York, welcoming the then-30-year-old striker to NWSL's Gotham FC. At just 5ft 3in (161cm), Esther was soft-spoken and unassuming, almost too quiet for a newly crowned world champion. Advertisement But unlike her headline-grabbing team-mates Putellas and Bonmati, Esther carved out her legacy with quiet consistency to become one of Spain's most reliable goalscorers. Known for her lethal precision and tireless work ethic, she delivered Gotham a championship soon after her arrival. Nicknamed La Reina, she brings both grit and grace to the pitch at national and club level. Beyond her impressive goals and spatial excellence, she is a leader who inspires team-mates. She is the kind of player every team dreams of: consistent, fearless and clutch. Asli Pelit Arriving at Barca and standing out in your first year in a team full of stars and with two players who have won the last four Ballon d'Or awards — Bonmati and Putellas — is no mean feat. But that is exactly what Ewa Pajor did last season. The Poland international arrived to try to fill the void left by Caldentey — they do not play the same position, but Caldentey brought versatility to the team and even played as a No 9 in many matches during the 2023-24 season. And she succeeded. Pajor gave the team something it was missing: a centre-forward who could score goals. And nobody came close in that field. She was Liga F's Golden Boot winner with 25 goals — nine more than the two players in joint-second on the list, Putellas and Edna Imade — and Barcelona's top scorer, with 43 goals in 46 games across all competitions. It's hard to argue with that. Laia Cervello Herrero Emily Fox always dreamed of playing in Europe, and in the past 18 months, she's made that dream come true. After helping the U.S. win Olympic gold in Paris, she joined Arsenal and capped off the season by lifting the UEFA Women's Champions League trophy in Lisbon in May. Fox was a No 1 NWSL draft pick in 2021, rising through the ranks at University of North Carolina despite early injuries, eventually leading Tar Heels to an ACC title and earning a USWNT call-up while still a sophomore in college. In the pros, she quickly stood out at Racing Louisville, then moved to North Carolina Courage, helping them win the 2023 Challenge Cup. Advertisement What sets Fox apart is her mental toughness, tactical intelligence and elite athleticism. She is a complete full-back built for the modern game. Now 27, she is arguably the best right-back in the women's game, delivering on a promise she saw coming since she was five years old. Asli Pelit (Top photos: Bonmati and Kelly; Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
National Post
07-08-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Ousmane Dembele and Chloe Kelly nominated for men's and women's Ballon d'Or awards
Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele and England forward Chloe Kelly are among the contenders to win the men's and women's Ballon d'Or award. Article content The 30 men's and 30 women's nominees were revealed Thursday by France Football magazine, with the winners to be announced at a ceremony in Paris on Sept. 22. Article content Article content The 28-year-old Dembele was inspirational in leading PSG to its first Champions League title after years of falling short and helped the French club complete a treble. He scored a career-high 35 goals overall for PSG last season. Article content Teenage star Lamine Yamal, whose mesmerizing performances lit up the Champions League and helped Barcelona win the Spanish league title, is among the other men's nominees. Article content Kelly starred for England at Euros Article content When England won the women's European Championship last month, the 27-year-old Kelly blasted home the decisive penalty in the final against World Cup winner Spain. She also played a key role earlier in the tense knockout stages. Article content Last season, Kelly played on the right flank as Arsenal won the women's Champions League with another against-the-odds win over powerhouse Barcelona. Article content She faces competition from defender Lucy Bronze and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton — her England teammates who both play for Chelsea — and from Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati, the winner of the past two awards. Article content Barcelona players have won the past four women's awards. Bronze was runner-up in 2019 to U.S. forward Megan Rapinoe. Article content PSG players in the spotlight Article content Dembele was one of nine PSG players nominated for the men's award, including goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, forward Desire Doue, who scored twice in the 5-0 rout of Inter Milan in the Champions League final, and inspirational winger Khvitcha Kvaratskhelia, who joined from Napoli in the January transfer window. Article content The other men's nominees include Egypt striker Mo Salah, whose 29 league goals helped Liverpool win the Premier League, and prolific Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe, who netted 44 times for Madrid last season. Article content Midfielder Rodri won the Ballon d'Or last year after impressing with Manchester City and Spain but missed most of last season with a knee injury. Article content Real Madrid snubbed the star-studded ceremony last year in apparent protest because its forward Vinicius Junior finished in second place. After staying away, Madrid and its players then vented their feelings on social media. Article content The voting system Article content The Ballon d'Or was created by France Football magazine and has been awarded since 1956 for men, and since 2018 for women. It is voted for by journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings for the men's award and the top 50 FIFA-ranked countries for the women's award. Article content Each journalist, one per country, selects players in ranked order with points attributed to each position. The winner is the player who receives the most points. Article content
New York Times
07-08-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Who should win the men's Ballon d'Or: Mohamed Salah, Ousmane Dembele, Lamine Yamal?
The 30-man nominee list for the men's Ballon d'Or has been released. And, as ever, it is stacked with talent. Long gone are the days when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo used to dominate this award — neither of them features, in case you were wondering — and you could make a strong argument for any of the players listed. So, who should be named the Ballon d'Or at the ceremony in Paris on September 22? Here, our writers put forward their case for the players who they think deserve it. Have your say in the comments below. If you had told anyone at Barcelona that Ousmane Dembele would score 35 goals last season and lead Paris Saint-Germain to their first Champions League title, you would have received some questioning looks. Dembele was sometimes electric after joining Barca for a joint-club record €135million in 2017, but all too infrequently. He struggled with injuries and never reached 15 goals in a season, before his messy €50m exit to PSG two years ago. Advertisement Even in his first season, he scored just six times as Kylian Mbappe (understandably) took the limelight. But once he left, Dembele was a man transformed. He showed speed, trickery and a newfound ruthlessness in front of goal, also playing a key role in Luis Enrique's collective approach — as shown by this clip from the Champions League final. Ousmane Dembélé revient sur son pressing fou sur Sommer lors de la finale de la Ligue des Champions ! 🔥 — Onze Mondial (@OnzeMondial) July 5, 2025 He was serenaded with chants of 'Ousmane, Ballon d'Or' when PSG paraded the trophy at the Parc des Princes, the most cherished part of a treble. Nobody enjoyed a season quite like him — and for that reason, he deserves this award. Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero Being overlooked when it came to the Ballon d'Or used to drive Mohamed Salah to distraction. When you consider how he's rewritten the Anfield record books, it's crazy that fifth place (in both 2019 and 2022) is the highest he's ever finished. The Liverpool forward has become more philosophical over the years, but during an interview with Gary Neville for Sky Sports in May, he conceded: 'I'd love to win it one day, I won't lie.' If it's going to happen, then surely this is his year. The Egyptian's contribution to Liverpool's Premier League title triumph in 2024-25 was immense. He collected both the Premier League Golden Boot and Playmaker awards in recognition of his stunning return of 29 league goals and 18 assists. Not content with breaking the record for most goal involvements in a 38-game Premier League season, Salah also equalled the record of 47, jointly set by Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole over a 42-match campaign. 'Ridiculous numbers,' was the assessment of his captain Virgil van Dijk. 'If he wins the Ballon d'Or, then I think no one could argue.' Advertisement It's about time that Salah got the wider appreciation his brilliance deserves. James Pearce I already know what readers will say before I even begin my argument: Lamine Yamal is 18 years old. Too young, perhaps. Maybe they're right. He hasn't won the Champions League either, so there's another point in their favour. But few would dispute that he is the most talented player in the world right now. You don't have to travel to many countries to see that shirts with his old No 19 and now 10 have flooded the streets of every city this holiday season. 'Yamal-mania' is a reality. His age undoubtedly attracts attention, but he has held his own against plenty of older players. How many youngsters his age have been on the front pages of newspapers in the run-up to a Champions League semi-final second leg? To then perform as he did against Inter was nothing short of remarkable. He unbalanced the Italians' defence, produced several moments of magic and often did the unthinkable — all with a smile and a flash of his braces. Lionel Messi, the player Yamal is often compared to by fans, didn't need to win a World Cup to be named best in the world in 2010. And I don't think Yamal needs the Champions League to already be considered the best in the world in 2025. Laia Cervello Herrero Ah, football: one day you're 20 and getting booed for passing backwards as your team beats Liverpool, the next they're building shrines to you in Naples. Well, OK, not quite the next day. There were, admittedly, seven years between that moment at Old Trafford, which once prompted Jose Mourinho to criticise a small section of Manchester United fans unhappy with Scott McTominay's ball retention, and the midfielder's astonishing title-winning season with Napoli. But his transformation from a United squad player sold last summer to someone reaching near-Diego Maradona status in Italy is now gilded with another eye-popping development: a nomination for the Ballon d'Or. In fairytale terms, there can't be a more deserving winner. The brave move away from everything he knew, the rapid adaptation to a different league, and then the 12 goals, six assists and so many artful appearances as Napoli clinched the Scudetto. He loves his new home (especially the tomatoes) and it loves him back. After goals at the San Siro, at the Stadio Olimpico, against Juventus, it's common to see Scottish flags at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium. Other nominees perhaps achieved greater things at mega-rich, juggernaut clubs, but McTominay's year at Napoli was a classic reminder of football's redemptive capacity for the gloriously unexpected. Greg O'Keeffe I'm here to hand-deliver Vitinha a fresh bouquet of flowers to make sure he doesn't miss out. Advertisement For me, the best player in the world is someone you want to watch over and over again. Vitinha, with poise and guile, definitely falls into that category. The silky midfielder makes the game look magical and fun — exactly how it should. I know this award usually comes down to what a player has won, and Vitinha did win the treble with Paris Saint-Germain and was integral to their first-ever Champions League win. He also won the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, if we are counting that. But maybe we should stop that kind of count. Let's give it to a player who, wearing his Nike hairband, flows up the pitch with such ease and pomp. He would be a deserving winner. Caoimhe O'Neill A left-back has never won the Ballon d'Or. But what more could Nuno Mendes have done? The 23-year-old played 53 times and scored five goals in PSG's (nearly) all-conquering season as they took Ligue 1 and the Champions League in an illustrious quadruple, while Portugal won the Nations League too. His outstanding dynamism and tactical awareness make him by far the best in his position in the world. Having Mendes is like having two players on the pitch at once. He will probably not win the Ballon d'Or, but there can be no fierce arguments if he does. Max Mathews Individual accolades should not be about raw statistics, but about trophies, moments, and emotions. Maybe that's not always fair, but when we're old, grey, and still moaning about VAR, it's those that are remembered. So that's where we get to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a footballer who makes people feel. He is part of a Paris Saint-Germain super-team, that's for sure, replete with the technical expertise of Joao Neves and Vitinha, fired by the goals and dynamism of Dembele. But Kvaratskhelia is so much of what makes this team different — it does not feel like a leap to call him the most terrifying dribbler in the world, each stride laden with end product. His wonder goal against Aston Villa, tormenting the poor Axel Disasi, was arguably the iconic moment of their Champions League victory. Trophies and goals? He has them too — picking up winners' medals for both Serie A and Ligue 1 and scoring in PSG's 5-0 Champions League final victory. Kvaratskhelia is no longer Kvaradona; he is his own player, and he is very special indeed. Jacob Whitehead I didn't think I'd be writing this at the start of the season, but Raphinha would be a worthy Ballon d'Or winner. Only Salah racked up more than the Brazilian's 56 combined goals and assists across all competitions last season, and there were some crucial ones too: five goals against Real Madrid, a last-gasp winner at Benfica, and a hat-trick against Bayern Munich all spring to mind. Advertisement No player in Europe's top five leagues made more runs in behind the defensive line, according to SkillCorner, pointing to his intensity without the ball. Relentless in his ability to repeat such bursts throughout the season, he constantly stretched defences and created space for team-mates such as Robert Lewandowski to flourish closer to goal. Barcelona would not have won La Liga without him, nor the Spanish Cup. And in a parallel universe, had they not fallen on the wrong side of a madcap, 7-6 aggregate defeat to Inter in the Champions League semi-final, he may have helped them to lift a European title too. Some turnaround for a player who, this time last year, looked certain to be out the door. Thom Harris How much do you really need to argue the case for the man who settled the biggest football match of 2025? That is what the Club World Cup final is — at least conceptually — and certainly in the mind of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Desire Doue may have something else to say as the hero of PSG's brilliant Champions League final rout of Inter in May, but Luis Enrique's team were every bit as humbled by Cole Palmer and Chelsea in New Jersey last month. Palmer has a habit of producing his best when it matters most. He followed up his spectacular equaliser for England in the Euro 2024 final last year with two assists to turn the UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis on its head, then two goals and an assist to blow away PSG in the first half of the Club World Cup final in New Jersey. If there is a case against Palmer winning the Ballon d'Or this year, it lies in a run of one goal and three assists in 22 matches for Chelsea from mid-January to the end of the Premier League season. He has spent much of this year in a strange funk, but he relishes pressure and the big stage. A player of his quality and pedigree should always be in the conversation. Liam Twomey (Top photos: Salah and Yamal; Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
