Countdown for the Ballon d'Or: Mbappe, Dembele, Kenan Yıldız!

The countdown has begun for the Ballon d'Or Award Ceremony to be held in Paris, the capital of France.

The frontrunner for the 2024-2025 season's best player award is Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele. The French forward, who had a career-winning season with Champions League and French League champions Paris Saint-Germain, became a star with 37 goals and 16 assists.

Dembele's biggest rivals are Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Mohamed Salah.

The award, which will be presented at a ceremony in Paris, France, was won by Rodri from Manchester City last season.

Real Madrid players Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. stand out among the strong candidates.

The award will find its owner at 22:00.

The 2025 Ballon d'Or nominees were announced as follows:

Ousmane Dembele (PSG and France), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City and Italy), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid and England), Desire Doue (PSG and France), Denzel Dumfries (Internazionale and Netherlands), Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund and Guinea), Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway), Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal and Sweden), Achraf Hakimi (PSG and Morocco), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG and Georgia), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona and Poland), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool and Argentina), Lautaro Martinez (Internazionale and Argentina), Scott McTominay (Napoli and Scotland), Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid and France), Nuno Mendes (PSG and Portugal), Joao Neves (PSG and Portugal), Pedri (FC Barcelona and Spain), Cole Palmer (Chelsea and England), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich and France), Raphinha (Barcelona and Brazil), Declan Rice (Arsenal and England), Fabian Ruiz (PSG and Spain), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool and Germany), Vitinha (PSG and Portugal), Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid and Brazil), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt).