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Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé crowned Paris Saint-Germain's great 2025 by being proclaimed the winner of the FIFA The Best award for player of the year, while Spanish player Aitana Bonmatí grew her legend as queen of women's football with her third consecutive award.
Dembélé and Bonmatí were honored at the gala dinner held by the world's highest football body at the Fairmont Katara Hall in Doha, on the eve of the Intercontinental Cup final, which will be played this Wednesday between the Parisian side and the Brazilian team Flamengo at the Ahmad Bin Ali stadium in the Qatari capital.
Dembélé, 28, shone and was decisive during the great season achieved by Paris Saint-Germain, contributing decisively to winning Ligue 1, the French Cup, the Champions League, and the European Super Cup.
The event, co-presented by former Italian player Alessandro del Piero, rewarded the best of the year in various categories, as confirmed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, with protagonists almost identical to those awarded in the last Ballon d'Or gala organized by the French publication 'France Football'.
Dembélé, who was recognized with said award in Paris in September, once again preceded his compatriot Kylian Mbappé, a forward for Real Madrid, and the Spaniard Lamine Yamal, a winger for Barcelona, in the FIFA award rankings.
The 28-year-old Frenchman shone brightly and was decisive in the great season achieved by Paris Saint-Germain, contributing decisively to winning all domestic tournaments, as well as the Champions League and the European Super Cup. The only thing missing was the Club World Cup, in which the French team fell in the final against Chelsea, although this Wednesday they will be able to add a sixth title in the Intercontinental Cup if they beat the Brazilian Flamengo.
Aitana Bonmatí, also the winner of the Ballon d'Or in the last three editions, confirmed her status as the true queen of current women's football. Between both awards, she has accumulated six; the last three from the French awards and The Best, and if we add the two achieved by Alexia Putellas in 2021 and 2022, Spain has accumulated five consecutive ones.
The Catalan midfielder was instrumental in Barcelona's dominance in Spanish football, winning every possible title and reaching the Champions League final, where they fell to Mariona Caldentey's Arsenal in Lisbon.
Alexia Putellas and Mariona Caldentey were the other two finalists and joined Aitana Bonmatí in the women's football team of the year, which also includes Hannah Hampton (ENG), Lucy Bronze (ENG), Leah Williamson (ENG), Irene Paredes (ESP), Ona Battle (ESP), Patri Guijarro (ESP), Claudia Pina (ESP), and Alessia Russo (ENG).
Aitana was also key in the successes of the Spanish national team, number one in the world ranking. She reached the final of the European Championship in Switzerland, lost in a penalty shootout to England, and retained the Nations League title against Germany, whose second-leg match at the Metropolitano she could not play due to a fracture in the fibula at the level of the left ankle during a training session with the team led by Sonia Bermúdez.
"I am grateful to have the award, I was voted for by the players, coaches, and the fans and I will enjoy it," said Bonmatí in a message recorded in Barcelona in which she appeared with a crutch she must use after being operated on.
PSG's dominance was reflected in the awards for best coach and best goalkeeper, which went to Spaniard Luis Enrique Martínez and Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma, respectively, who were also winners of the Ballon d'Or.
Luis Enrique, former coach of Roma, Celta, and Barcelona, wins The Best for a spectacular season—the best in PSG's history—in which he managed to win all domestic titles, the Champions League, and the European Super Cup.
The Spanish coach, who has formed an auteur unit after the gradual departure of major figures from the Parisian club such as Neymar, Leo Messi, and Kylian Mbappé, aspires to become the third in history—after Pep Guardiola in 2009 and Hansi Flick in 2020—to total six titles, synonymous with having created a team that can mark an era. He only missed out on the Club World Cup in the United States, where he lost the final to Chelsea.
Luis Enrique takes over the mantle in The Best from Italian Carlo Ancelotti, former Real Madrid coach and current coach of Brazil, and among the Spanish coaches from Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), winner of the award in 2023.
The current Manchester City goalkeeper added this recognition to the Yashin Trophy as fruit of a great campaign. The 26-year-old footballer from Castellammare di Stabia, who was second in 2021, takes over in the honors list from Argentine Emiliano Martínez, last year's winner, and is the first Italian to receive it since Gianluigi Buffon in 2017.
Donnarumma is the goalkeeper of the ideal team of the year, which is also dominated by his former team and also includes Achraf Hakimi (MAR/PSG), William Pacho (ECU/PSG), Virgil van Dijk (NED/Liverpool), Nuno Mendes (POR/PSG), Cole Palmer (ING/Chelsea), Jude Bellingham (ING/Real Madrid), Vitinha (POR/PSG), Pedri González (ESP/Barcelona), Lamine Yamal (ESP/Barcelona), and Ousmane Dembele (FRA/PSG).
Two acrobatic actions, as spectacular as a 'scorpion' and a bicycle kick from outside the area, were the ones that won the awards for the best goals of the season, which bear the names of two legends like the Brazilian Marta and the Hispano-Hungarian Ferenc Puskas.
The Mexican Lizbeth Ovalle, thanks to her spectacular 'scorpion' goal with Tigres against Guadalajara in the Mexican women's league on March 3, received the Marta award, which was also a finalist in this edition together with Mariona Caldentey.
Meanwhile, the Argentine Santiago Montiel, cousin of Gonzalo Montiel—the former Sevilla side-back who scored the decisive penalty for Argentina against France in the 2022 Qatar World Cup final—was awarded the Puskas for his spectacular bicycle kick with Independiente against Independiente Rivadavia in a league match.
The Dutch Sarina Wiegman, England national team coach and European champion; the Zakho SC Iraqi fans; and doctor Andreas Harlass-Neuking, from the German team SSV Jahn Regensburg, completed the awards with The Best for best women's football coach, fan award, and fair play, respectively.
[Publicidad]