How the 2025 Ballon d'Or favourites have performed this season

As the end of the season draws nearer, Ladbrokes takes a closer look at the 2025 Ballon d'Or front-runners and how they've performed across the 2024/25 season.

Manchester City's Rodri is the current holder after picking up the award in October 2024, but an ACL injury in September of the same year means he hasn't kicked a ball since, opening the door for a new winner to be crowned - but which of the favourites has had the most impressive campaign so far?

Raphinha is currently the bookies' tip to win the Ballon d'Or in October 2025, thanks to his hugely influential campaign with both Barcelona and Brazil.

With more than 50 goal contributions this season, the winger has become an integral player for club and country, and is a huge reason why Barca are among the favourites to win this season's Champions League.

The Brazilian is the current top scorer in the competition, with crucial goals against Benfica and a hattrick against Bayern proving he can also perform when the games truly matter - something all jurors are sure to take into account when voting.

The Catalan club are yet to lose a match in 2025, which will certainly be working in Raphinha's favour as the end of the season edges closer, with team trophies often playing a significant role in the final Ballon d'Or standings.

With the Champions League still up for grabs and a La Liga title there to be won, the Brazilian has an excellent chance to end the season with multiple awards to his name should he continue his incredible form - which is exactly why the bookies are backing him.

The only player in Ladbrokes' top five to play their football outside of Spain, Mohamed Salah has put up astonishing numbers that have Liverpool in a position where they are runaway favourites to win the Premier League.

On track to win the Premier League golden boot for the fourth time, the Egyptian has set the league alight with his incredible consistency and effectiveness, with the winger hoping to become the first player to score 30 goals and claim 20 assists in a single PL season.

Salah's form has also seen him emerge as the clear front-runner for this year's PFA Player of the Year Award, with the talismanic forward looking to win the coveted prize for a record third time since signing for Liverpool back in 2017.

This season has seen the 32-year-old rise into the top five in the list of all-time Premier League record goalscorers, closing in on 200 league goals, and becoming the first African to win the Ballon d'Or since 1995 would be the perfect way to celebrate.

The youngest player among the favourites, 17-year-old Lamine Yamal has blown the footballing world away since bursting onto the scene last season, becoming a key cog in Barcelona's trophy-chasing machine.

Already a star player for Barca and Spain, who are the current favourites to win the 2026 World Cup, the teenager has plenty of years ahead of him to pick up football's top prizes, but his performances this season have already seen him justify his reputation as one of the world's best players.

Should Spain go on to win the UEFA Nations League in June, Yamal's chances of global recognition will only increase, with Barcelona also still in the hunt for three trophies this season - largely thanks to the exciting young winger.

Yamal would become the youngest player to ever win the Ballon d'Or, beating the record set by a 21-year-old Ronaldo back in 1997. Barcelona legend Lionel Messi was 22 when he picked up his first, so the stage is set for Lamine Yamal to make history.

Ousmane Dembele has been a revelation at PSG this season, helping his team reach the semi-finals of the Champions League with an excellent number of both goals and assists.

Dembele has been the main man for PSG this season, guiding them to another league title as they aim for an invincible league season, and has had his odds of winning the Ballon d'Or slashed after his side beat Aston Villa in the Champions League quarter-finals.

After such a strong season, winning the Ballon d'Or would be the perfect way for Dembele to round off a campaign that not a lot of people would've seen coming, following his disappointing stint at Barca.

Dembele would become only the second Frenchman to win the award since 1998, following in Karim Benzema's footsteps from 2022.

The third Barca player to feature in the top five, Robert Lewandowski has once again proven why he is considered one of the greatest strikers in the world, with over 40 goal contributions in all competitions.

Many people believe Lewandowski would have won the Ballon d'Or in 2020, when the award was paused due to Covid, and getting his hands on the coveted prize this year would likely feel like justice for the Pole.

With the 36-year-old edging nearer towards the end of his career at the very top level, Lewandowski has not let up in front of goal, scoring 40 goals for the eighth time in 10 years, and continues to spearhead Barcelona with real quality.

His two teammates, Yamal and Raphinha, are tipped by the bookies to have a better chance than him of lifting the trophy, but Lewandowski has truly cemented himself as one of Europe's elite goalscorers.

Across Spain and into the capital, Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe is no stranger to being grouped with football's elite players, with a World Cup and over 350 career goals already to his name.

Since exploding onto the world scene in 2017, the French forward has consistently delivered the goals and assists to match his electric performances - something he has continued to do at Real Madrid, scoring in every possible club competition this season.

Mbappe is Real Madrid's top scorer in both La Liga and the Champions League this year, and with France also one of the front-runners to win the 2025 UEFA Nations League, he could even end the season with an international trophy as the captain of his country.

Since his high-profile transfer to Real Madrid in the summer, the former PSG man has continued to show why the bookies regularly tip him for football's top awards, taking to the Bernabeu with little fuss and cementing his spot as one of the greatest footballers on the planet.

After being beaten to the post last year, finishing in second place behind Rodri, Vinicius Junior will be hoping to go one better this time around and win the trophy that he feels his performances have deserved.

Real Madrid's brilliant Brazilian has continued to impress this season, particularly in the Champions League, and as long as he continues to be a prominent part of Madrid's frightening forward line, he will always be in with a chance of winning the Ballon d'Or.

The Spanish giants are still hopeful of a healthy trophy haul this season, and are also the favourites to win the FIFA Club World Cup in the summer, which could all help towards Vinicius Jr's chances of picking up the Ballon d'Or.

With teammates from both his club and country also appearing within this top five, Vini Jr is surrounded by fellow world class players whenever he steps onto the pitch, but as he continues to stand out and drive his side to success, the bookies give him every chance of winning football's top individual award this year.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.