The 2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony officially took place in France on Monday, with Paris Saint-Germain's France international forward Ousmane Dembélé receiving the award for the first time in his career just as widely expected.

This was the 69th Ballon d'Or, and many Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool players attended in style. However, perhaps having known they would not win, Mohamed Salah and teammate Alexis Mac Allister were absent.

Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal, accompanied by his entire family, attended the ceremony in a grand led by president Joan Laporta.

Before the ceremony, a special tribute was paid to legendary Liverpool and Portugal international forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, who tragically passed away in a car accident two months prior.

Jota's widow, Ruth Cardoso, was also in attendance. During the tribute, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, missing his late friend, was even moved to tears.

Real Madrid players collectively chose not to attend for the second consecutive year due to dissatisfaction with the result.

Although he and Yamal were also highly favoured candidates, Dembélé, who have played 53 times in all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain in the 2024/25 season, scoring 35 goals and providing 16 assists, where he helped the club secured a quadruple of Ligue 1, the French Coupe de France, the Trophée des Champions, and the club's first Champions League title, and also scored two goals in seven matches for France during the selection period, ultimatety won the award,.

Although Yamal missed out on the Ballon d'Or, he did win the Kopa Trophy, which symbolizes the best wonderkid of the year.

This year's Yashin Trophy went to Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who joined Manchester City this summer after completing a quadruple with Paris Saint-Germain last season.

Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish coach, Luis Enrique, also won the Johan Cruyff Award, representing the best manager of the year, beating out his former club's head coach, Hans-Dieter Flick, and Liverpool's head coach, Arne Slot.

Arsenal's new signing, Swedish international striker Victor Gyökeres, also won the Gerd Müller Award for his 52 goals for Sporting CP last season.

Furthermore, Paris Saint-Germain swept the Club of the Year award, making the defending Ligue 1 champions the clear winners of this year's Ballon d'Or.

After winning his first Ballon d'Or, Dembélé choked up and cried while mentioning his family during his acceptance speech.

Dembélé said: "I'm experiencing something extraordinary right now. It's been an incredible year with Paris Saint-Germain. I'm a little nervous; it wasn't easy. Having Ronaldinho present me with this award is incredibly special."

"I'm grateful to Paris Saint-Germain for taking me on in 2023, to the president, the entire team, and the entire club. It's an incredible family."

"President Nasser (Al-Khelaifi) has been like a father to me. The staff have been fantastic. Luis Enrique has been like a father to me throughout my career. Thank you to my teammates. It's a collective achievement that earned this individual award."

"I'd also like to thank all the clubs I've played for: Borussia Dortmund, Rennes, and Barcelona. It was a dream of mine to join Barcelona, where I had the privilege of playing alongside great players like Andrés Iniesta and Leo Messi."

"The Ballon d'Or wasn't a goal of mine in my career, but it means so much more to me right now." I've always given my all to the team and strived to win the Champions League. To be recognized with an award like the Ballon d'Or is truly extraordinary. Overall, I'm very happy tonight."

"Thank you to all my national team teammates; we've grown together. Thank you to the coach for his trust in me over the past nine years, in good times and bad. Especially since this is coach (Didier Deschamps)'s final tournament, we hope to win the World Cup for him."

"I'm also grateful to my hometown of Evreux, where I grew up and first touched the ball. I feel so lucky to have grown up in that city. Finally, I want to thank my family, especially my mother, who has always been there for me and supported me through the tough times. Thank you to my agent for always believing in me and constantly motivating me. Thank you to my best friend."

According to statistics, Dembélé is the sixth French player in history to win the Ballon d'Or. The previous five are Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane, and Karim Benzema.

Dembélé also became the 10th player in history to win the "Grand Slam" of the World Cup, Champions League, and Ballon d'Or in his career.

The 2025 Ballon d'Or will be awarded from August 1, 2024, to July 13, 2025. The three main criteria are: individual performance, decisiveness, and impressiveness; team performance and trophies; and demeanor and fair play.

From his time at Barcelona, where he was criticized for injuries and attitude issues, to now, under Luis Enrique, at the peak of his career at Paris Saint-Germain, as one of the most expensive players in world football, he has had a bumpy journey, but he has now fulfilled the predictions that he would be one of the world's future stars.

The complete ranking of the 30 Ballon d'Or nominees is as follows:

1st: Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain, France)

2nd: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)

3rd: Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)

4th: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt)

5th: Raphinha (Barcelona, Brazil)

6th: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, Morocco)

7th: Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid, France)

8th: Cole Palmer (Chelsea, England)

9th: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain / Manchester City, Italy)

10th: Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)

11th: Pedri (Barcelona, Spain)

12th: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli/ Paris Saint-Germain, Georgia)

13th: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)

14th: Desiré Doué (Paris Saint-Germain, France)

15th: Victor Gyökeres (Sporting CP / Arsenal, Sweden)

16th: Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid, Brazil)

17th: Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona, Poland)

18th: Scott McTominay (Napoli, Scotland)

19th: Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)

20th: Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan, Argentina)

21st: Serhou Guirahi (Borussia Dortmund, Guinea)

22nd: Alexis McTominay Calist (Liverpool, Argentina)

23rd: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England)

24th: Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain, Spain)

25th: Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan, Netherlands)

26th: Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway)

27th: Declan Rice (Arsenal, England)

28th: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands)

29th: Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen / Liverpool, Germany)

30th: Michael Olise (Bayern Munich, France)