When Ousmane Dembélé lifted the 2025 Ballon d’Or in Paris last Monday, September 22, 2025, many wondered just how close the battle had been between him and Barcelona’s teenage wonderkid, Lamine Yamal.
On Friday, September 26, 2025, France Football published the official voting breakdown, and the numbers told their own story.
Dembélé finished on a commanding 1380 points, leaving Yamal in second place with 1059.
That’s a gap of 321 points, big enough to show clear separation.
For months leading into the ceremony, pundits and fans tipped the 18-year-old to make history as the youngest Ballon d’Or winner ever.
Tearful Dembele wins Ballon d’Or as PSG dominate
His dazzling dribbles, goals and assists lit up Barcelona’s campaign, and the hype surrounding him was impossible to ignore.
But Dembélé’s season proved decisive. The Paris Saint-Germain forward not only hit his best individual form but also carried his club to unprecedented heights, most notably their first ever Champions League triumph.
Those decisive nights in Europe swayed voters, giving him the edge when it mattered most.
The gap below the top two shows just how much they dominated the conversation. Vitinha, Dembélé’s PSG teammate, came third on 703 points, more than 650 behind the winner.
Mohamed Salah, Raphinha and Achraf Hakimi followed, but none came close to threatening the two frontrunners.
In the end, both had chances, but the voting breakdown shows Dembélé didn’t just win, he convincingly claimed football’s most prestigious crown.
FKA
