Ballon d’Or 2025 power rankings: Mohamed Salah surges ahead as Liverpool team-mate comes into the reckoning

Ah, no, Vinicius is going to cry again, isn't he?

Time was that the Ballon d'Or was a lovely little end-of-year footnote, but has now ballooned (or should that be balloned? No) to a degree of such apparent importance to some players that it is more important than the boring old trophies that get handed out for, you know, winning football matches and stuff.

In any case, now that we're into the final third of the 2024/25 season, excitement is building for who might land the 2025 Ballon d'Or - with a familiar face to Premier League viewers moving ahead of the pack.

Ballon d’Or 2025 power ranking: The bookies’ odds for the award

All odds from Bet365.

1. Mohamed Salah (11/8)

Going into the final year of his contract, turning 33 in the summer and under a new manager, Mo Salah wasn't supposed to be having the best year of his career, but here we are.

His 41 goal involvements in the Premier League (25 goals and 16 assists), is just one shy of his personal best (his first year at Anfield in 2017/18) and we've still got the run-in to come.

The Egyptian King is flying and as the best player in the best team in the world's biggest league, it's no surprise that he's the frontrunner for this year's Ballon d'Or.

An injury-hit campaign last season meant Salah wasn't even shortlisted last year, and he's never finished higher than fifth in the standings. Might this be his year? And will he still be a Liverpool player by the time the ceremony rolls around?

2. Kylian Mbappe (5/2)

It was only a matter of time until Kylian Mbappe's Real Madrid goals began to flow and he moved up this list, wasn't it?

A slow start to life at the Bernabeu meant you could have got odds of 7/1 that the Frenchman was going to win the award back at the start of January, but two hat-tricks since New Year, including his treble against a hapless Manchester City in their Champions League playoff, means he's our list's big mover.

If Carlo Ancelotti's side now march relentlessly to another Champions League title, these odds will no doubt contract further.

3. Vinicius Junior (10/1)

2024's completely graceless runner-up refused to accept that any other footballer anywhere in the world might possibly be considered to have had a marginally better year than him, with his solipsistic world view bizarrely backed up by his club and teammates.

"Ooh but I won the Champions League". Yes you did Vini. You know what your prize for that was? The Champions League. That's...that's how all of this works.

France Football may be well advised to buy a special little trophy from the supermarket for Vinicius Jr to play with if, as the bookies expect, he misses out again this year. He's now only the third-favourite, with his new team-mate Mbappe moving ahead of him. And we still hope he continues to come second every year until the end of time.

4. Lamine Yamal (12/1)

While there's general agreement among the bookies about Salah at 1 and Mbappe at 2, the rest of the field does vary depending who you ask.

Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal is very much in this chasing pack and although Euro 2024 won't be considered for the 2025 award (it was included in last year's) his form for Barcelona has been eye-catching enough on its own. More often than not he will contribute either a goal or assist every game for Barca - though at 17, he has plenty of time to pick up individual accolades in future if he misses out this time.

5. Raphinha (16/1)

As Vinicius Jr can no doubt tell you, it's been 18 long years since a Brazilian has won the Ballon d'Or and former Leeds United winger Raphinha's form for Barcelona this year is approaching the kinds of levels that Kaka, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo displayed to win the award.

Given his competition this year, you get the feeling he'd need a World Cup or something to actually get his hands on the prize, so he's perhaps one to keep an eye on next year.

6. Virgil van Dijk (20/1)

The latest big mover in the market is Virgil van Dijk, who has been the rock at the back for Liverpool in their assault on the Premier League and Champions League titles.

Fabio Cannavaro needed to captain Italy to the World Cup to become the last centre-back to get the nod, but after Rodri bucked the trend of handing the award out to attack-minded players last year, here's another one for the football romantics to get behind.

The others…

Robert Lewandowski has had his shooting boots on this year and heads up the La Liga top scorer table, but his odds of 25/1 are about right.

Jude Bellingham is also a 25/1 chance, the odds reflecting the fact that he would have to move ahead of two of his own Real Madrid teammates in this list.

Harry Kane continues to bang in the goals at Bayern Munich but is 33/1 shot, while Alexander Isak's recent excellent form sees him join the conversation as another outsider at 40/1.