Thus, the awards that were previously mostly reserved for men will now be awarded equally to women (best goalkeeper/Yashin Trophy, best young player/Kopa Trophy, best scorer/Gerd Müller Trophy).

The top scorer award is expected to be awarded to Ewa Pajor, who has scored 47 goals and provided 19 assists in 61 matches for Barcelona and the Polish national team.

A total of 13 awards will be awarded to men and women, including the “Golden Ball” of course for men and women.

The 30 nominees are compiled by L’Equipe and France Football and then decided by vote.

A journalist from each of FIFA’s top 100 associations is selected (Greece is represented by Discoveryfootball.com  editor-in-chief Manos Staramopoulos), who provide 10 players they consider to have been the best player of that year, giving each one 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively. The three criteria for the award take into account individual performance, team performance and “class and fair play”.

The awards: the “Golden Ball” for men and women, the “Kopa” trophy for men and women (best young footballer), the “Yashin” trophy for men and women (best goalkeeper), the "Gerd Müller" trophy for men and women (top scorer of a club/national team), the "Johan Cruyff" trophy for men and women (best coach of a club/national team), the "Club of the Year" for men and women, and the "Socrates" award, awarded by the "L'Équipe" group and "Peace and Sport", for charitable actions or social causes carried out by a dedicated champion.

As is known, the "Golden Ball" of 2025 will be awarded based on the results of the season and not the calendar year, that is, the period from August 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025.

The "Golden Ball" should be mentioned that it started in 1956 from an idea of the French editor-in-chief of "France Football", Jacques Ferran who in a discussion at the offices of the magazine stressed that "since the team will win the Champions League trophy, it would be good to honor the best football player in Europe (S.S.: at that time there was no globalization). Thus, his proposal was accepted and implemented with great success, as the "Golden Ball" is the noblest and most important individual award in the world.

"Golden Ball": The 30 in men-women

The list of 30 candidates for the "Golden Ball" men's 2025, is a "tribute" to the wonderful season of Paris Saint-Germain, which equaled the record of Real Madrid from 2018 with 9 football players. Without the winner among the thirty, the winner inevitably, it will be, like in 2024, for the first time.

Last year, the Ballon d'Or was won by Manchester City's Spanish midfielder Rodri.

The 30 candidates for the men's Ballon d'Or are:

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)

Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain/France)

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain/Italy)

Desire Douet (Paris Saint-Germain/France)

Denzel Dumfries (Inter/Netherlands)

Cheyrou Girassy (Dortmund/Guinea)

Victor Gioqueres (Sporting Lisbon-Arsenal/Sweden)

Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)

Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain/Morocco)

Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England)

Kvitsa Kvaratskelia (Paris Saint-Germain/Georgia)

Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona/Poland)

Alexis McAllister (Liverpool/Argentina)

Lautaro Martinez (Inter/Argentina)

Scott McTominay (Napoli/Scotland)

Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid/France)

Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain/Portugal)

Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain/Portugal)

Pedri (Barcelona/Spain)

Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England)

Michael Oliseh (Bayern Munich/France)

Rafinha (Barcelona/Brazil)

Declan Rice (Arsenal/England)

Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain/Spain)

Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool/Netherlands)

Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid/Brazil)

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt)

Florian Vrij (Bayer Leverkusen-Liverpool/Germany)

Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain/Portugal)

Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)

The English, European champions, and the Arsenal women, who unexpectedly defeated the Barcelona in the Champions League, make up almost a third of the candidates for the 2025 Ballon d'Or. The winner in 2024 was Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Aitana Bonmati, who is a candidate again.

The 30 candidates for the women's Ballon d'Or are:

Lucy Bronze (Chelsea/England)

Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride/Zambia)

Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona/Spain)

Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea/France)

Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal/Spain)

Clara Biel (Bayern Munich/Germany)

Sofia Cantore (Juventus-Washington Spirit/Italy)

Steph Catley (Arsenal/Australia)

Melchi Dumornay (Olympique Lyon/France)

Temua Chawinga (Kansas City/Malawi)

Emily Fox (Arsenal/United States)

Cristiana Girel (Juventus/Italy)

Esther Gonzalez (Gotham/Spain)

Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona/Norway)

Patri Guillaume (Barcelona/Spain)

Amanda Gutierrez (Palmeiras/Brazil)

Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England)

Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich/Denmark)

Lindsay Heaps (Olympique Lyon/USA)

Chloe Kelly (Arsenal/England)

Marta (Orlando Pride/Brazil)

Frida Leonardsen Maanum (Arsenal/Norway)

Ewa Payor (Barcelona/Poland)

Clara Mateo (Paris/France)

Alessia Rousseau (Arsenal/England)

Claudia Pina (Barcelona/Spain)

Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/Spain)

Johanna Ritting Kanerid (Chelsea/Sweden)

Caroline Veje (Real Madrid/Scotland)

Leah Williamson (Arsenal/England)

The top teams in men-women

This season, Paris Saint-Germain has won everything (Champions League, Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Champions League) except for the new Club World Cup, which Chelsea won. Barcelona, Liverpool and Botafogo have also won trophies this season and are in the running for the Men's Team of the Year award

The five nominees for the Best Men's Team award are:

Barcelona

Botafogo

Chelsea

Liverpool

Paris Saint-Germain

Champions League winners Arsenal are in the running to overshadow three big European teams: Barcelona, , two-time winners of the Club of the Season award in 2023 and 2024, Chelsea and Lyon, who were already in the running last year. Orlando Pride, from the United States, completes the list.

The five nominees for the Women's Team of the Year award are:

Arsenal

Barcelona

Chelsea

Lyon

Orlando Pride

The nominees for men's and women's team coaches

None of the five managers nominated for this year's Johan Cruyff Trophy for the best men's coach (club or national team) were present at the inaugural ceremony last year. So who will succeed Carlo Ancelotti on September 22?

The five nominees for the Cruyff Trophy in men's football are:

Antonio Conte (Napoli)

Luis Enrique Martinez (Paris Saint-Germain)

Hansi Flick (Barcelona)

Enzo Maresca (Chelsea)

Arne Slot (Liverpool)

A year after the first Cruyff Trophy, awarded to the best women's coach, the award continues its journey this year. Sarina Wiegman, fifth last year, made history by winning her third consecutive Euro (2017 with the Netherlands, 2022 and 2025 with England).

The five nominees for the Cruyff Trophy in women's football are:

Sonia Bombastor (Chelsea)

Arthur Elias (Brazil)

Justine Madugu (Nigeria)

Rene Sleggers (Arsenal)

Sarina Wiegman (England)

The 10 nominees and the 5 goalkeeper nominees

With his decisive performances during Paris Saint-Germain's victorious European campaign, Gianluigi Donnarumma is the favourite to win the trophy for the second time, having already won it in 2021. The only one to have achieved this double feat (2023 and 2024), is Emiliano Martinez, who is among the nominees.

The 10 candidates for the men's Yachine Trophy are:

Alisson Becker (Liverpool/Brazil)

Yachine Bounou (Al Hilal/Morocco)

Lucas Chevalier (Lille/France)

Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid/Belgium)

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain/Italy)

Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa/Argentina)

Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid/Slovenia)

David Raya (Arsenal/England)

Match Sels (Nottingham Forest/Belgium)

Jan Sommer (Inter/Switzerland)

For the first time, the Yachine Trophy is also awarded to women. Among the five goalkeeper nominees, three have shone for their respective national teams at the Euro.

The five nominees for the women's Yashin Trophy are:

Mikele Agyemang (Arsenal/England)

Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid/Colombia)

Wiki Kapteyn (Chelsea/Netherlands)

Vicky Lopez (Barcelona/Spain)

Claudia Martinez Obado (Club Olimpia/Paraguay)

The 10 nominees and 5 nominees for the best player for men and women under 21

A major new feature this year is the Kopa Trophy (to honor the best young player), which will also be for women, with five nominees for players under 21.

The 10 candidates for the Kopa Trophy (Best Under-21 Player) are:

Pau Koubarsy (Barcelona/Spain)

Ayoub Bouadi (Lille/France)

Desiré Douet (Paris Saint-Germain/France)

Estevao (Palmeiras-Chelsea/Brazil)

Dean Huysen (Bournemouth-Real Madrid/Spain)

Miles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal/England)

Rodrigo Mora (Porto/Portugal)

Joao Neves (Patriots Saint-Germain/Portugal)

Lamin Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)

Kenan Yildiz (Juventus/Turkey)

The five candidates for the Women's Kopa Trophy are:

Anne-Katrin Berger (Gotham/Germany)

Kata Kohl (Barcelona/Spain)

Hannah Hampton (Chelsea/England)

Giamacca Ndjozi (Brighton/Nigeria)

Daphne van Domselaar (Arsenal/Netherlands).