CSN News: You may not believe the best footballer of 2025.

This year’s Ballon d’Or isn’t until October 27, and the 30 nominees who are shortlisted will be announced early September. The voting is a lengthy and arduous process. The voting process is long and rigorous.

A jury of football journalists representing the top 100 nations in the FIFA Men’s Ranking decides the Ballon d’Or. Each jury member chooses ten players, in ascending order. Their top choice gets 15 points while their 10th pick only receives one.

The points are totaled, and the winner is the one who has the most votes. The following are some of the most effective ways to get started: At least Harry Kane, Vinicius Senior, Declan Rice, Arsenal and Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan deserve a mention. The 30-player list will include them.

The Ballon d’Or records of Lionel Messi and Ronaldo will be very difficult to surpass anytime soon. Messi has the most Ballon d’Or trophies, with eight. Ronaldo is the five-time winner and also holds the record of the most nominations.

In ascending order, these are the seven most likely players to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or award in its 69th anniversary year.

7 – Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)

Mbappe’s slow start may explain why he is ranked seventh. Since the beginning of the season, his fans had expected more. But it wasn’t until later that he surpassed expectations and shocked the world by scoring a hattrick against Manchester City. The chances of him winning the prize were reduced after Arsenal won the Champions League. Even if he doesn’t win the top award of the evening, he still has a chance to win the Gerd Muller Trophy. Harry Kane from Bayern Munich is also the runner-up, with 41 goals and 12 assist.

6 – Pedri (Barcelona)

Although his statistics are not particularly impressive (five goals, eight assists), experts still think he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or.  He was injury-free this season for the first few years. The Barcelona midfield pillar has still a few opportunities to prove what a huge star he truly is.

5 – Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)

It is shocking that he still hasn’t won the Ballon d’Or despite leading several European teams in scoring. He was robbed by many in 2020. Let’s not get into the controversies. Let’s focus on his 42 goals and five assists this season, as well as the Spanish Super Cup. He was surprisingly excluded from the Ballon d’Or 2024 shortlist. He is 36 years old, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. He’s had a great season, but there is one more game where he can shock the world.

4 – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

With 35 goals and 24 assists this season, there is very little else you can say about this exceptional player called ‘The Egyptian King,’ and oh my, he does deserve that alias. In the Ballon d’Or ranking, he dropped because he didn’t score in the two matches against PSG. He may still win the African Ballon d’Or in the near future, but it’s not going to be his season. 

3 – Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

Lamine’s third position is something of a toss-up. He is in a battle with Mohamed Salah for this position. For now, he is here. He has scored 15 goals and made 23 assists. He’s only 17! Since the award’s inception, there has never been a player who won the Ballon d’Or under 21. If he fails to win the Ballon d’Or, he has another three years to set a new world record. Many experts describe him as the best attacking player in La Liga. Lamine is a great candidate to win the Kopa Trophy at the same event, which is given to the top player under 21.

2 – Ousmane Dembele (PSG)

Dembele is a remarkable winger. He finished the season with 34 assists and 10 goals. He won Ligue 1 as well as Trophee Des Champions. The Frenchman has been a disappointment to his fans since leaving Borussia Dortmund and moving to Barcelona. This is despite the fact that he has rare abilities. Dembele has found his game with Paris Saint-Germain in the second season. He could win the Champions League for PSG, something that Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have not been able to achieve.

1 – Raphinha (Barcelona)

He’s the number one choice of several sports media outlets. Although there was some debate initially, his performance in the last few weeks has been outstanding, making it clear that he’s the best. Raphinha, according to goal, had a fantastic 2024-2025 Barcelona season, scoring 35 goals, and providing 23 assist. Barcelona’s decisive striker is Raphinha. Barca almost signed Nico Williams, the former Leeds United left winger, last year. But they are now extremely glad they didn’t. Raphinha showed what a great winner he was by being the one Barcelona player who personally greeted each Real Madrid player after his team won the Copa del Rey on Saturday.