Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati were crowned the best men’s and women’s players in the world at the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday night.

Dembele, the Paris Saint-Germain and France forward, took the men’s prize after leading his club to a treble-winning season and their first Champions League success.

“What I have just experienced is exceptional; I have no words for it—what happened with PSG,” said an emotional Dembele, whose mother joined him on the stage.

“I feel a bit of stress; it’s not easy to win this trophy, and to have it presented to me by Ronaldinho, a legend of football, is exceptional.”

Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, 18, was runner-up after being voted the best young player.

Barcelona and Spain midfielder Bonmati became the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or for three consecutive years.

Lionel Messi and Michel Platini are the only men to have achieved that feat.

The women’s Ballon d’Or has been won by a Spaniard from Barcelona for five years in a row.

“It’s incredible this feeling. I never thought when I was a kid that I could achieve this because I didn’t think women’s football could exist,” Bonmati said.

“But all of these trophies are because of collective work. We had a difficult season because we won some trophies, but we also lost some to amazing footballers.”

England head coach Sarina Wiegman was named best women’s coach after England’s triumph over Spain in Switzerland, while PSG boss Luis Enrique picked up the men’s Johan Cruyff award.

England and Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton won the inaugural award for best women’s goalkeeper, with Man City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma picking up the seventh edition of the men’s prize for his season with PSG.

Arsenal and PSG won the awards for women’s and men’s club of the year after their Champions League successes.

Viktor Gyokeres’ 63 goals for Sporting and Sweden last season earned him the men’s Gerd Müller Trophy. Barcelona and Poland’s Ewa Pajor, scorer of 48 goals, scooped the women’s award.