Deserved? Robbed? Post Ballon d’Or Reactions

It is rightly said, “The World is like a fair, there are surprises for everyone”. This year Balon D’or was simply not less than a dramatic roller coaster. And the ceremony truly surprised many. The fans are wrangling and analyzing the ranking. While many fans stand in unison with a view that some players got the rank they deserved, while the rank of some of the players are just bizarre and have left fans awestruck.

Team “Tackle from Behind” extends his heartiest congratulations to the 2025 Men and Women Balon D’or winners, Ousmane Dembele and Aitana Bonmati. Unlike the last year, fans were really joyous as the suspense of the winner was maintained till the last moment and the winner’s name wasn’t leaked beforehand.

2025 Men Balon D’or Rankings

Let us deep dive and compare some of the Ranks that many fans think were undeserved.

1. MICHAEL OLISE AT 30

• He was top assist provider in the Bundesliga for 2024-25.
  
• Named Bundesliga Rookie of the Season for 2024-25.
  
• Included in Bundesliga Team of the Season for 2024-25.
• Statistically he has almost G/A like Lamine Yamal

Despite achieving so much, fans argue many players with incredibly low stats and no trophies are placed higher above him, with the likes of Declan Rice at 27, Alexis Mac Allister at 22, Vinicius Junior at 16. So statistically he should have been placed higher.

2. DECLAN RICE AT 27

Declan Rice statistically had an average season with Arsenal, without winning Premier League and Champions League, or any individual accolades. Many fans argue that his 2 incredible and marvelous free kicks against Real Madrid is the reason why he is in the top 30.

With Midfielders, one can reasonably argue that G/A is not an enough matrix, and one should consider other factors like average Match Rating, final third passes, ball control, passing, etc. Some fans argue that he was not at his best in all the critical games Arsenal had played.

3. FABIAN RUIZ AT 24

Despite all the numbers and trophies, Fabian was not able to impress the journalists and was ranked at 24^th position. As a midfielder, with good stats and so many trophies won, not ranking even in top 15 have let fans wonder that biases against defenders and midfielders still exists and G/A dominates every other stat

4. JUDE BELLINGHAM AT 23

Perhaps the first name in the list which was ranked higher than what it should have been. Unlike last season, he didn’t win any trophies last season and not with great statistics either. Many players like Olise, Fabian are ranked below which seems unusual.

5. JOAO NEVES AT 19

One of the key midfielders for PSG this season, his stats might not look great but he has always been a key playmaker this season. Average match rating of 7.8, and loads of progressive passes, many fans argued that he should be in top 15 at least

6. ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI AT 17

In La Liga, his scoring rate was about 0.79 goals per match.

In the Champions League, roughly a goal per game in the group / knockout matches he featured.

He became the first player in the top-5 European leagues to reach 40+ goals (club + country) in the 2024-25 season by the end of March.

Had he not been injured for 2 months, he was the leading Laliga top scorer, outscoring one of the best names of the game Kylian Mbappe. Despite having over 40 G/A,winning domestic Treble with Barcelona, fans are disappointed with this rank as other forwards like Viktor Gyökeres with over 50 G/A but in a less competitive Scottish League, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were ranked higher. And Vinicius Junior with no trophies and less G/A was ranked higher.

7. VINICIUS JUNIOR AT 16

Perhaps one of the most controversial and an undeserving higher ranked player of the ceremony. Vinícius Júnior experienced a notable decline in his 2024–25 season performance and Ballon d’Or ranking.

Ever Since that famous tweet posted last year of him promising to do 10 times the work rate, fans had higher expectations from him because many fans believed he was the rightful Balon D’or winner last year.

But this was the season that Vinicius would like to forget. With no trophies to show and with no good numbers, fans were amazed as to why he was ranked higher than Lewandowski, Fabian Ruiz, Olise.

8. HARRY KANE AT 13

One of the most consistent strikers of the last 5 years and this year also, the story was pretty much the same for him. He won his 1^st major trophy(Bundesliga Title) and some fans argued, he should be in the top 10 with players like Cole Palmer, Kylian Mbappe having more or less the same stats placed above him.

9. PEDRI GONZALEZ AT 11

🏆 Trophies & Honors

• La Liga Champion: Contributed to Barcelona’s league title win.
• Copa del Rey Winner: Part of the squad that secured the domestic cup.
• Spanish Super Cup Winner: Contributed to the team’s performance in the competition.
• Euro’s Winner with Spain

One name last season which even forced the rival fans of different clubs to stand up and applaud. One name who weaved every passionate football fan in his magic, and he is none other than Pedri. Perhaps the most controversial rank of this year Balon D’or this year.

Fans, streamers, influencers, of different clubs and the women’s Balon D’or winner Aitana Bonmati showered their support for the Spanish midfielder and slammed the French Football Association as to which parameters they used to rank Pedri at 11.

Majority of fans believe he should have been in the top 5 ahead of Vitinha. He maintained an average rating of 7.70 and it even crossed 8.5 in many matches without any goals or assists in those matches. It just proves how clinical he was in the final third of each game for Barcelona.

10. COLE PALMER AT 8

After moving to Chelsea from Manchester City, he emerged as one of the top talents with incredible statistics last season and equally good statistics this season too. He won the inaugural Club World Club with Chelsea, but fans are a bit puzzled as this was the only trophy this season that he won. Many considered the Club World Trophy as a friendly tournament due to the nature of its timing in the season. And his ranking above Pedri, Joao Neves, Désiré Doué who won domestic treble and Champions league trebles respectively makes it inexplicable.

11. RAPHINHA AT 5

The Brazilian was on the redemption arc this season when he became the key of Barca’s strike department. He not only won the domestic treble with the club but was the top scorer of the Champions league. At one point many even speculated, he might break Cristiano Ronaldo’s all time 17 goals record in the Champions league.

Neymar also extended his support for Raphinha as he missed out on top 3.

He was clinical in all the important matches for Barca like against Real Madrid, a hattrick against Bayern Munich, and many others.

Till February, 2025, bookmakers had him as the most favourite to win the Balon D’or. Despite all of this, fans were shocked to see him not in the top 3 and Salah with less trophies and almost equal G/A finishing above him.

12. VITINHA AT 3

Possibly one of the most exciting midfielders who nurtured and polished his form the most this season was Vitinha. A key player of Luis Enrique’s treble winning PSG. But after comparing all the parameters like Average Match Rating, final third passes, G/A, etc, many fans were a little disappointed with Vitinha finishing at third knowing Pedri finished at 11^th. And so, many fans were in favour of if not Pedri but Raphinha finishing in top 3 instead of Vitinha.

13. OUSMANE DEMBELE AT 1

Quite possibly, when one of the few times where the majority of fans have felt that the right person was awarded with this prestigious trophy. Last time the similar thing happened was in the 2021-22 season when Karim Benzema was clearly the stand out. According to Journalists, Ousmane Dembele had a landslide margin of vote victory over his former fellow Barcelona Colleague, the 17 year old Lamine Yamal.

And here we end another beautiful season of football, with this year fans are happy with Dembele rightfully winning the Balon D’or, but at the same time disappointed with some players’ rankings.

As it is rightfully said, we can’t please everyone but we can certainly improve the system to attract more audience in our favour. With this optimism, we move into a new realm of surprises, realities and possibilities. May the new football season bring more joy to each one of us.