Ousmane Dembélé was named the Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2025 on Tuesday evening, completing a prestigious awards double after scooping the Ballon d’Or in September.
The Frenchman was instrumental in Paris Saint-Germain ending their lengthy wait for a first-ever Champions League crown, and he was named the best player of the year ahead of Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.
FIFA’s awards are different from the Ballon d’Or in the sense that current international captains and coaches vote for the winner, alongside journalists and also fans from around the world, but there was no deviation from picking Dembélé as the standout player of 2025—his adaptation to playing as a clinical central striker instead of out wide was a particularly impressive accomplishment.
Dembélé and Yamal were named in The Best FIFA Men’s XI of the year but there was no place for Mbappé. Instead, England duo Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham featured in midfield alongside PSG’s Vitinha and Barcelona’s Pedri.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was chosen as goalkeeper—he won The FIFA Best Men’s Goalkeeper award earlier in the day—and the defense consisted of PSG trio Achraf Hakimi, Willian Pacho and Nuno Mendes, in addition to Liverpool’s Premier League-winning captain Virgil van Dijk.
Bonmati, Wiegman Wins Top Women’s Prizes at FIFA Awards
Aitana Bonmatí was named The Best FIFA Women’s Player for the third year in a row, seeing off international teammates Mariona Caldentey and Alexia Putellas—her win also extended Barcelona’s dominance of the award after Putellas’s past successes in 2021 and 2022. All three were named in The FIFA Best Women’s XI comprised solely of Spain and England players.
Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique was crowned The Best FIFA Men’s Coach, while Sarina Wiegman was named The Best FIFA Women’s Coach, beating off competition from Chelsea’s Sonia Bompastor and Arsenal’s Renée Slegers among others
The 2025 Puskas Award winner was Santiago Montiel of Independiente—recognized for an outstanding bicycle kick from outside the box—and the FIFA Marta Award Winner was Lizbeth Ovalle. She picked up the honor after scoring a unique scorpion-style kick for Tigres UANL Femenil against Guadalajara Femenil—the phenomenal strike proving to be the game’s winning goal.
READ THE LATEST 2025 BEST FIFA FOOTBALL AWARDS NEWS
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ousmane Dembele Beats Lamine Yamal to 2025 Best FIFA Men’s Player Crown.