The 2025 <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/ballon-dor/">Ballon d’Or</a> ceremony will take place on September 22 at Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet, with anticipation building as several contenders look to win the award for the first time. Ahead of the gala, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/france-football/">France Football</a>’s editor-in-chief has laid out the criteria that will determine the winner.



In an interview with Téléfoot, France Football editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia explained how the decision is made: “I am the only person who knows the winner of the Ballon d’Or. The criteria for winning this award are: individual performance, decisive and impressive moments, titles won, as well as fair play and behavior on and off the pitch.”



In recent years, winning major trophies such as the UEFA Champions League has often tipped the balance in Ballon d’Or voting. But last year, when Rodri beat out Vinícius Júnior despite Real Madrid’s UCL triumph, the criteria drew heavy debate among fans.



Garcia clarified that beyond statistics and titles, intangibles will play a role. The player’s impact in key moments and conduct on and off the field also matter, a factor that reportedly worked against Vinícius in 2024.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1200" height="675" src="https://media.worldsoccertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/09/22115631/rodri-ballon-dor-1200x675-1200x675.webp" alt="After missing nearly the entire 2024-25 season due to injury, Rodri will not be repeating as Ballon d’Or winner in 2025." class="wp-image-592226" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></figure></div><figcaption>After missing nearly the entire 2024-25 season due to injury, Rodri will not be repeating as Ballon d’Or winner in 2025.</figcaption></figure>



Garcia also revealed that unlike in previous years, the winner of the 2025 edition will not be informed in advance. Traditionally, the Ballon d’Or recipient was notified before the ceremony. This time, only France Football executives know the outcome.


 <div class="wp_fsn_relatedlinks" use="ALSO" link="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/the-5-youngest-ballon-dor-winners-could-lamine-yamal-break-every-record/" image="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.worldsoccertalk.com%2Fwebp%2Ffull%2FWST_20250922_WST_592204_Yamal-Ballon-DOr.webp&amp;width=200&amp;height=200" excerpt="At just 18 years old, Lamine Yamal could make history at the 2025 Ballon d’Or gala in Paris as the youngest winner ever, surpassing Ronaldo’s record from 1997.
" title="The 5 youngest Ballon d’Or winners: Could Lamine Yamal break every record?" publication_id="WST#/news/the-5-youngest-ballon-dor-winners-could-lamine-yamal-break-every-record/"></div>


<h2>2025 Ballon d’Or: How the voting works?</h2>



France Football released the 30-player shortlist on August 7. From there, the voting is conducted by 100 journalists representing the 100 highest-ranked countries in the FIFA rankings, each applying the criteria Garcia outlined.



Every journalist selects five players, assigning points on a 6-4-3-2-1 scale. The player with the highest total wins. In the case of a tie, the count of first-place votes determines the winner, followed by second-place votes, and so on until the deadlock is broken.



<h2>2025 Ballon d’Or top contenders</h2>



The 2024-25 season has produced several breakout stars who now find themselves in contention. FC Barcelona’s Raphinha and Lamine Yamal led their club to a dominant campaign in Spain and a Champions League semifinal run. Meanwhile, Ousmane Dembélé has emerged as one of the favorites after topping the charts for goal contributions with Paris Saint-Germain, who went on to lift the European trophy.

What are the 2025 Ballon d’Or criteria? France Football’s editor-in-chief explains

What are the 2025 Ballon d’Or criteria? France Football’s editor-in-chief explains - World Soccer Talk

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American streaming service <a href="https://paramountplus.qflm.net/c/330866/1007330/3065" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paramount+</a> will stream the upcoming 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony live as it happens.&nbsp;&nbsp;The star-studded event will take place on Monday, October 17th in Paris.



Hosted by former Chelsea great Didier Drogba and television presenter Sandy Heribert, the ceremony begins at 2:30PM (ET).&nbsp;&nbsp;Along with airing the entire event, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/channels/paramount-plus-soccer-schedule/">Paramount+</a> will also stream an hour-long press conference at the conclusion of the ceremony.



<h2>Background on Ballon d’Or ceremony</h2>



The Ballon d’Or is an annual award presented to the top performer in the sport of that particular year. First originating in 1956, the trophy is presented by <a href="https://www.francefootball.fr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">France Football</a>, a weekly soccer magazine consisting of sporting news from all over the planet.



Argentina international Lionel Messi has won the most Ballon d’Or awards in the history of the prestigious event.&nbsp;&nbsp;Along with his record seven wins, the now PSG player has also finished second in the voting five times, and third once.



Cristiano Ronaldo (5), Michel Platini (3), Johan Cruyff (3), and Marco van Basten (3) round out the top five Ballon d’Or winners of all time.



While Messi may have the most Golden Ball trophies of all time, he is not currently in contention to bring home his eighth triumph.&nbsp;&nbsp;This will be the first time since 2005 that Messi was not among the nominations.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Get ready… 2022: 🤔✨<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ballondor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ballondor</a> <a href="https://t.co/4It9CwvN2t">pic.twitter.com/4It9CwvN2t</a>— Ballon d&apos;Or #ballondor (@francefootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/francefootball/status/1580498734579785728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2022</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is the current favorite to win the award this year.&nbsp;&nbsp;However, there are 30 total players that can collect the Ballon d’Or.&nbsp;&nbsp;Some other notable 2022 nominees include: Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne, and Christopher Nkunku.



The men’s Ballon d’Or trophy is not, however, the only award handed out at the ceremony.&nbsp;&nbsp;There is also a women’s Ballon d’Or, Kopa Trophy (best young player), Socrates Award (player involved in social/charitable work), Gerd Muller Trophy (top scorer), Yachine Trophy (best goalkeeper), and an award for the best club of the year.



Photo credit: IMAGO / MIS

Paramount+ to stream Ballon d’Or ceremony

CBS Sports' Paramount+ will stream the 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony live to viewers in the United States of America.

Paramount+ to stream Ballon d’Or ceremony - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2400" src="/files/2009/12/Messi-226x300.jpg" alt="Messi" width="226" height="300"></figure></div>As expected Lionel Messi succeeded Cristiano Ronaldo as the winner of the Ballon d’Or award. The Barcelona star comfortably won the prize but he&nbsp;admitted&nbsp;his&nbsp;surprise at the margin of victory as he received 240 points more than Cristiano Ronaldo who finished second.
Messi&nbsp;was quite close to winning all 480 points &nbsp;possible as he finished with a near perfect 473 points while Real Madrid’s Ronaldo got 233 points which is less than half of Messi’s total! There is no doubt the Argentinian deserved to win since he was one of the main driving forces behind Barca’s treble winning season. He led all scorers in the Champions League with nine goals and scored in the final triumph against none other than Ronaldo’s Manchester United. The Catalan club’s star also scored 23 times in la Liga and was on the score sheet six times in the Copa del Rey.
The goals scored by Messi do not tell the whole story since his contributions transcend beyond the occasions he found the back of the net to include the assists he provided his fellow Barca players&nbsp;with. Messi’s assists&nbsp;totalled 18 in all competitions. The top spots on the list were dominated by Barca players which is also not surprising considering the influence of the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta as well as current Inter striker Samuel Eto’o.
Messi mentioned to France Football he is honoured to win the award and dedicated it to his family. He also said he was delighted to become the first Argentina to win the Ballon d’Or. Given the performances of Messi the past year, it is near impossible to find any other player more deserving of the individual award. It will not be a shock if Messi repeats next year, but his chances&nbsp;will be hindered if&nbsp;his country continues to struggle&nbsp; under Maradona’s leadership and fails to impress in South Africa 2010. Despite the concerns over Argentina and Maradona, who can bet against Messi repeating as the award winner?
<a href="http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2324441/">Who Will Win The Ballon d’Or Next Year?</a>(<a href="http://www.polldaddy.com">polls</a>)

Messi Wins Ballon d'Or

Messi Wins Ballon d'Or - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5248" src="/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/ballondorronaldo3.jpg" alt="ballondorronaldo3" width="400" height="257"></figure></div>
Why does the Premier League produce so few Ballon d’Or winners?
This year’s edition of the Champions League has followed the script so far, and unless a major upset occurs in the quarter-finals, then at least one English team will be in the finals for the fifth straight year.
One oft-cited reason for this dominance is that the likes of Man U, Liverpool, and Chelsea have such great spending power that they snap up the best players from around the globe and field untouchable squads of mostly foreign all-stars.&nbsp; Why then, have only two England-based players – Michael Owen in 2001 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008 – won the Ballon d’Or?&nbsp; If the EPL does have the best players, shouldn’t they be getting more recognition?
This year doesn’t promise very much different, however.&nbsp; Barcelona’s Leo Messi has been waiting in the wings to claim his prize, and with Ronaldo sulking, and Kaka and Torres injured, it seems that this will finally be his year.
For the European journalists who vote for the winner of football’s most prestigious individual accolade, the players of the EPL can do no right, it seems.&nbsp; Domestic achievement is important for candidates of the award, but the most important factors are showcasing offensive talent in the Champions League and success on the international stage.
Just look at 2007, when Kaka couldn’t help Milan past 4th place in the Serie A (despite the absence of Juventus), but his sizzling form in the UCL and for Brazil deservedly saw him earn the award.
Unfortunately, neither of these helps England-based players.
The EPL’s current dominance of the Champions League comes more from stingy defending than from awe-inspiring offenses.&nbsp; When facing non-British opposition in the knockout stages, when it really matters, the Big Four did not concede a goal at home all of last season, and have not yet this season.&nbsp; Although Vidic, Skrtel, Terry and Toure won’t be hailed the best player in the world this year, their massive contributions keep the UCL a mostly British affair.
Maybe more importantly, on the international level, the stars of the most successful teams do not tend to have England-based players.&nbsp; While there may be more Argentines and Brazilians playing in the EPL these days, players like Kaka, Messi or Ronaldinho in his prime have stayed in Italy or Spain.&nbsp; Further, successful European nations like Italy, Germany, and Spain always have squads based strongly in their home countries.
The same is true of the Three Lions, but it has been often theorized that the high numbers of foreign stars in the EPL actually cause England to under-perform on the international stage.
The quality is undoubtedly there: Torres, Fabregas, Rooney, Gerrard, Ronaldo, etc. can all win the Ballon d’Or.&nbsp; This year probably belongs to Messi.&nbsp; But if the EPL continues to rule the UCL roost, and England-based players continue to have success in the Copa America, European Championship, and World Cup, then the journalists should acknowledge this strength by giving the trophy to Premiership footballers more often.

More Ballon d'Or Winners from the EPL, Please

More Ballon d'Or Winners from the EPL, Please - World Soccer Talk

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