With Ousmane Dembélé winning the 2025 Ballon d'Or in impressive style, there's room to wonder why fans thought Lamine Yamal had such a good shot at the title. Yes, both players went home winners on the night with Yamal claiming the Kopa Trophy for the second time running. The trophy, for best young player under 21, could still be his for a few more years given that he only turned 18 this year. But that's beside the point. When it comes to the Ballon d'Or, it went to Dembélé with ease, but let's look at why.
Who is Yamal?
Despite being very young, Yamal has already made quite a name for himself. The Spanish forward is currently playing for Barcelona and has taken on the iconic Messi No.10 jersey. These big shoes to fill are being done incredibly well, with the youngster already strutting his stuff. In his time at the club, Yamal has proven he's got the skills to back up the praise. And despite being new to the football scene, he's not let the pressure get to him.
Headstrong Dembélé
But even with strong credentials, Dembélé really is the one to beat. In fact, the French winger was the always the favourite when looking at soccer betting online and subsequent odds involved. And it's easy to see why. In terms of stats, the Frenchman is in the lead. Yes, he's played in a slightly less competitive league, but the statistics still show his consistency across all areas of the sport.
A head-to-head
Prior to the ceremony, huge numbers of fans thought that Yamal had it. But, many other fans also believed that the Brazilian winger, Raphinha might also come close to stealing the title. After all, he had an incredible season with 34 goals and 23 assists across 57 games. In the run-up, he was sitting far above both Dembélé and Yamal, but on the night, he managed only fifth. At the end of the day, it showed that it didn't matter which team a player was from, but who was the preferred actual player.
And it was also clear that in terms of stats, it wasn't about who got the highest either. Dembélé managed to get 35 goals and 16 assists across 57 games, making him the closest contender to Raphinha. In contrast, Yamal was at just 18 goals and 25 assists across 55 games. Yamal was far off the mark compared to the other two. But for Dembélé, it wasn't just about the goals and assists. Part of what got him so many votes is his attitude. Before the season started, Dembélé's coach, Luis Enrique, actually suspended him due to his bad attitude. However, he was a changed man upon his return, a fact which seems to have impressed fans considerably because the change also became apparent on the field. The Dembélé became relentless, exploited gaps, as well as created and finished chances when they came his way.
Of course, there are some Yamal fans who still claim the youngster is the better of the two. And maybe they are right. Many cite the fact that Yamal was consistent for the entire campaign, this should put him in the lead. Dembélé, as mentioned, was out for part of it and therefore didn't even start to have a resurgence until December after he returned to training. On top of all this, many claim that Dembélé was playing second fiddle to Yamal at the international level, scoring only two times in seven appearances for France, compared to Yamal's three goals and one assist across seven games for Spain. If we're supposed to be taking into consideration overall performance on a wider level, then Yamal should have been the easy winner.
In the end, the odds were exactly right. On the night, Dembélé did in deed walk away victorious. While this is disappointing to fans of Yamal, this is something that many are used to as there is never a unanimous agreement for who wins the title of Best Footballer in the World. Other major players such as Messi have also been overlooked for the Ballon d'Or. And, with Yamal being so young, there's plenty of time for him to win another year.