Ballon d'Or favourite: Lamine Yamal's chances against Ousmane Dembele, Raphinha, Mohamed Salah assessed

Lamine Yamal enjoyed an excellent season with Barcelona and has been considered for some time as one of the favourites for the Ballon d’Or.

Now that the football season is over in the top European leagues, supporters have turned to debating who they believe was the best player in 2024-25.

The likes of Raphinha, Mohamed Salah and Ousmane Dembele have been touted as candidates for the Ballon d’Or, but so too has Yamal, who continues to defy what was previously thought possible for a 17-year-old.

Here, Sports Mole examines the merits of Yamal’s Ballon d’Or charge and whether he should win it ahead of other candidates.

Yamal's season

During the course of the 2024-25 season, Yamal managed to score 18 goals and provide an impressive 21 assists in 55 games for his club.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the winger’s performances was that he impacted matches against the very best, with the teenager playing fierce rivals Real Madrid three times and scoring in all three fixtures.

Yamal also netted against the likes of Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan, scoring against the latter in the first leg of their semi-final clash in the Champions League.

However, it should be noted that the Spaniard only scored nine league goals for Barca, though it is difficult to criticise him considering he is only 17.

The teenager is an efficient dribbler and creator, with his impact stretching beyond direct goal involvements, and he can be proud of his season regardless of whether he wins the Ballon d’Or.

The main competitor: Ousmane Dembele

Yamal faces the difficult task of beating Dembele to the Ballon d’Or award, especially as the Frenchman was arguably the best player for Paris Saint-Germain in their successful Champions League campaign.

Dembele looked lost in seasons past, scoring just 16 top-flight goals from 2019-20 to 2023-24.

However, the forward was deployed in a central role by boss Luis Enrique in 2024-25, and he managed to find the back of the net on 21 occasions in Ligue 1 for PSG, and in fact scored 33 times in all competitions.

The 28-year-old also excelled in Europe, scoring eight goals and registering six assists, with goal contributions coming against Liverpool in the round of 16 (one), Aston Villa in the quarter-finals (two), Arsenal in the semi-finals (two) and Inter Milan in the final (two).

Considering that winning Champions League has historically been key for Ballon d’Or victors, it would be surprising if anyone other than Dembele walked away with the award.

The best of the rest: Raphinha and Mohamed Salah

While both of the aforementioned players both have a case to be labelled as the best in the world, others like Raphinha could argue that he had a better season for Barca than teammate Yamal.

The Brazilian performed phenomenally in the final third, scoring 34 goals and providing 22 assists in 57 games, netting 13 goals and providing eight assists in the Champions League.

Raphinha’s 21 goal contributions in Europe was more than Lionel Messi ever managed in one campaign (19), and is the joint highest ever return in the competition’s history in a single season alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Elsewhere, Liverpool’s winger Mohamed Salah ended 2024-25 having scored 34 times, as well as registering 23 assists, in 52 matches.

The Egyptian also ended the Premier League season with the most goals (29) and assists (18) of any player, and his efforts were rewarded with the top-flight title.

There is an argument that Salah was at the biggest disadvantage of the Ballon d’Or candidates given he was the only forward player at Liverpool to consistently play to a world-class level, whereas the likes of Yamal benefitted from having Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha alongside him.

Yamal, Dembele, Raphinha and Salah are almost certainly going to be the main candidates for the award, and all would be worthy winners, though it is hard to look past Dembele due to PSG's Champions League victory.

Written by
Lewis Nolan