The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place Monday in Paris, where the best player in the world over the past season will be crowned. Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal and Paris Saint-Germain star Ousmane Dembele appear to be the two leading contenders to take home the prestigious trophy.
For weeks, speculation has swirled around the idea that the award from France Football magazine is likely to go to one of those two, based on their individual performances and the success of their respective teams. Perhaps aligned with that possibility is the decision about who will present the trophy to the winner.
According to El Partidazo de Cope, Ronaldinho will be the one to carry the Ballon d’Or and hand it to the newly crowned best player in the world, once their name is revealed during Monday’s ceremony at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
The choice of the Brazilian legend may be purely coincidental — or it could be an intentional move to add an emotional touch to this year’s ceremony. If either Dembele or Yamal ends up winning, the logic behind that choice would make perfect sense.
Ronaldinho is a symbol of both Barcelona and PSG
Ronaldinho is more than qualified to take on the honor of presenting the trophy to the world’s best player. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2005 — a decision that was widely agreed upon in the soccer world, given the magic he displayed on the pitch at the time.
Barcelona enjoyed the peak of the attacking midfielder’s brilliance between 2003 and 2008, when he scored 94 goals in 207 appearances. But before that, Ronaldinho had also made his mark with PSG. He joined the French club from Gremio in 2001 and spent two seasons there before Barcelona paid around $30 million to sign him. During his time in France, he scored 25 goals in 77 matches.
Ousmane Dembele and Lamine Yamal share something in common with Ronaldinho: both wear the No. 10 jersey for PSG and Barcelona, respectively — a number once worn by the Brazilian legend himself.
Ronaldinho on Yamal and Dembele
As a global soccer icon, Ronaldinho is often asked to share his thoughts on today’s stars. “Ousmane Dembele at PSG… I like him a lot. He has a bit of a Brazilian style! He’s unpredictable, creative, daring. He’s often unreadable — and he scores plenty of goals,” the former Brazilian international told L’Equipe a few months ago.
And on Lamine Yamal, Ronaldinho was equally enthusiastic: “I love watching him because of his creativity… He’ll be a huge star. The next Ballon d’Or, for sure,” he said in a quote cited by TNT Sports.