The top five contenders for 2025 Ballon d’Or: Can Vinicius Jr, bounce back? Will it be Lamine Yamal’s time?

Monday was a big day as the top players from all around the world gathered in Paris for the 2024 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony, the 68th edition of the event which has been awarded to the best soccer players by French publication France Football since 1956, and widely considered as the most prestigious individual prize for the game. The event wasn’t short on drama with Rodri winning thew men’s award as Real Madrid no-showed the event in support of Vinicius Junior. But given that Rodri is out for an extended period of time through injury, next year’s winner certainly won’t be a repeat. Every year there are more talents and players that can win the prize, so let’s take a look at the top five contenders for the men’s prize for next year. 

5. Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid

Let’s start from Kylian Mbappe, who moved in the summer 2024 from PSG to Real Madrid as a free agent, after his deal with the French giants ended at the end of the 2023-24 season. Despite being one of the best players around, there was no chance for him to win the Ballon d’Or this year. For the next one, he can aspire to make it but a lot will depend on his performances with Real Madrid, especially considering the mission Vinicius Jr. is likely to be on after Monday. 

4. Vinicius Jr. Real Madrid

The most controversial decision of the last decade led Vinicius Jr. to not win the prize this year. The Brazilian winger is the face of Real Madrid, despite the arrival of another star like Mbappe, and was named as the best player of the 2023-24 season with the side coached by Carlo Ancelotti, that won both the Spanish LaLiga and the UEFA Champions League, as Vinicius scored the second goal of the 2024 final against Borussia Dortmund. The Brazilian winger was also named as the best player of the 2023-24 Champions League, probably the biggest hint why he was considered the leading candidate for the Ballon d’Or on Monday. After losing the Ballon d’Or, he can hope to win his first one in 2025. 

3. Robert Lewandowski, FC Barcelona

Without the 2020 Covid outbreak, the Polish striker would have probably won the 2020 edition of the Ballon d’Or when he won the Treble with Bayern Munich. He’s now back to work with the former Bayern coach Hansi Flick at Barcelona and the start of the 2024-25 season is telling us he can be back at that level again. Also, if Barcelona manage to win some trophies this season, there are no reasons to think why he shouldn’t make it. 

2. Erling Haaland, Manchester City

After the end of the Messi-Ronaldo era, we were all expecting to see the Norwegian striker to succeed them alongside Mbappe. However, it probably won’t be the year of Haaland, despite winning and dominating the Premier League again and also scoring 38 goals in 45 games with Manchester City during the 2023-24 season. Haaland, the perfect goal machine, is definitely one of those players that should probably win the Balon d’Or in the coming years. 

1. Lamine Yamal, FC Barcelona

The future star of world soccer was in this year’s Ballon d’Or short list at 17 year-old, becoming one of the youngest ones to feature in the shortlist. In addition to being shortlisted for the major award, he won the Kopa Trophy, which is assigned to the best young player of the year. There are no doubts this is only the first time we will see Yamal at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, as he’s expected to be one of the best and interesting stars for the future. This year is time for the Kopa Trophy, but the next one he can be back in Paris to lift the most important one. 

Wildcard: Can Christian Pulisic win the Ballon d’Or?

The USMNT star can definitely hope to be selected in the final list of the 2025 Ballon d’Or considering the great start of the season he’s having. However, 2024’s Rodri win showed, the individual performances of a player needs to be supported by the performances of the teams he plays for. In this sense, the beginning of the 2024-25 season is not looking great for AC Milan. They’re struggling under new manager Paulo Fonseca. For Pulisic it would be a great achievement if he can be included in the top 30 list, and that’s something that can really happen.