Paris Saint-Gerrmain star Ousmane Dembele reached arguably the pinnacle of his career this year, winning a domestic clean sweep and Champions League, before picking up the Ballon d’Or on Monday. As is usually the case, there were those who were not in agreement with the voting.
Image: Lamine Yamal's brother with Raphinha's son at yesterday's Ballon d'Or gala. pic.twitter.com/YdwSQDWLTR
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 23, 2025
Not least Lamine Yamal’s father, who appeared baffled by the decision. However France Football were unequivocal that their jury had picked a clear winner for the 2025 edition of the Ballon d’Or and that Dembele’s crown was merited. Lionel Messi was in agreement, posting a comment under Dembele’s Instagram post saying ‘Great Ous!!! Congratulations, I’m very happy for you. You deserve it.”
Neymar Junior – ‘It’s taking the p***’
If anything, it was the rankings below the top two that inspired as the most ire. Neymar was less than impressed, and under a ranking of the top 10, commented that ‘Raphinha number five is taking the p***’.
Ferran Torres baffled by Pedri ranking
Raphinha was the second ranked of the four Barcelona nominees, coming in 5th behind Lamine Yamal in 2nd. Pedri narrowly missed out on the top 10, coming 11th, and Robert Lewandowski finished 17th. Teammate Ferran Torres posted a picture on his Instagram story of Pedri’s ranking with a face-palm emoji, and an exploding head emoji, a clear sign of his surprise at the decision.
Real Betis account targets Vinicius Junior
Meanwhile the Real Betis Twitter/X account quoted the post announcing Dembele’s victory posting ‘Admin will do it 10x if necessary. They are not ready.’ The quote a clear play on Vinicius Junior’s own post after missing out on the 2024 award, which has become material for many alternate uses of the phrase. No doubt it is unlikely to ingratiate Betis much with Madridistas, although that is probably low on their list of concerns.
Admin farei 10x se for preciso. Eles não estão preparados. https://t.co/13ExMUDYD6
— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) September 22, 2025
They choose who they choose, whatever. Lamine has not exactly been nominated for the final time, and the voters (to their credit) aren’t going to let the media or anyone else tell them whom to vote for.
I actually feel worse for Raphina. For me, there’s a better case to made for him winning than there is justification for him finishing fifth. Imagine if Vini Jr. had those stats and finished fifth…