The Japan Times - PSG star Dembele tipped to beat Yamal to win Ballon d'Or

The cream of world football will gather at the Theatre du Chatelet in central Paris to discover who will be the latest winners of an award dominated for so long by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Those two won the Ballon d'Or 13 times between them from 2008 to 2023, with last year finally marking the end of an era when the award went to Manchester City midfielder Rodri after he captained Spain to Euro 2024 glory.

With Rodri not a contender to retain the most prestigious individual prize in football after last season was marred by injury, Dembele has emerged as the favourite from a list of nominees dominated by PSG.

Nine members of the PSG team that won the Champions League, demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final, feature among the 30 nominees.

There is Desire Doue, Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha, as well as goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, now with Manchester City.

But Dembele stands out after a magnificent season in which he filled the void left in Paris by the departed Kylian Mbappe, scoring 35 goals.

That contribution helped PSG to also complete a domestic clean sweep and reach the final of the Club World Cup.

It was a spectacular campaign for the French club and an even more extraordinary one for Dembele, the 28-year-old winger turned centre-forward whose previous most prolific season had delivered 14 goals for Barcelona in 2018/19.

"It is nice after what was a wonderful season with PSG," Dembele told Le Monde when asked what it meant to be a leading contender for the prize.

"I think it's true that I am one of the favourites, but we will see what happens," he said of a gong he has described as "the individual Holy Grail".

Yamal, still just 18, stands out among the other nominees having emerged as a superstar on the wing at Barcelona, where he is seen as the successor to Messi.

He won the Kopa Trophy for the best player aged under 21 at last year's Ballon d'Or gala, fresh from having helped Spain to European Championship glory.

He scored 18 goals in 55 games in all competitions last season as Barcelona won La Liga and the Spanish Copa del Rey, but they lost in the Champions League semi-finals to Inter.

"I don't dream of winning one Ballon d'Or, I dream of winning lots," Yamal said in a recent interview with Spanish journalist Jose Ramon de la Morena.

- Bonmati to retain women's award? -

The Ballon d'Or is now voted for on the basis of achievements during last season, rather than over a calendar year as in the past.

Other notable nominees include Viktor Gyokeres, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Cole Palmer, and the key duo from Liverpool's 2024-2025 Premier League triumph, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Mbappe and Vinicius Junior are on the list too, a year after Real Madrid boycotted the ceremony, outraged that the latter had been overlooked for the prize.

The Ballon d'Or is voted for by a panel of journalists, one from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA world rankings.

It is the top 50 for the women, in which the field appears wide open as Barcelona and Spain star Bonmati goes for a treble.

Bonmati, 27, is an exceptional talent and was named player of the tournament at the UEFA Women's Euro in July.

Yet Spain lost the final of that tournament on penalties to England, and Bonmati's Barcelona also lost the Champions League final to Arsenal in May.

What may work either in her favour, or that of teammate and two-time former winner Alexia Putellas, is that there is no obvious standout from the England team that triumphed at the Euros.

Lucy Bronze, goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, Alessio Russo and captain Leah Williamson are all nominated from that side, as is Chloe Kelly, who scored the decisive penalty in the final.

K.Hashimoto--JT