Paris, August 07 (QNA) - French magazine France Football announced today the 30-player shortlist for the 2025 Ballon d'Or award for the best footballer in the world.

The list included Moroccan player Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint-Germain and Egyptian Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. Hakimi won the French League, the French Cup, and the UEFA Champions League with PSG, and finished as runner-up in the FIFA Club World Cup. Meanwhile, Salah played a key role in helping Liverpool win the English Premier League for the 20th time in its history, equaling the record for the most titles held by longtime rivals Manchester United. Salah was also awarded the Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer last season for the fourth time in his Premier League career after scoring 29 goals. He also won the Playmaker of the Season award, having provided 18 assists.

Paris Saint-Germain, the European champions and Club World Cup runners-up, had the most players on the list, with eight players in addition to Hakimi. These included Frenchmen Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Portuguese players Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, and Vitinha, and Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz. Liverpool had three other players aside from Salah: Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk, Argentine Alexis Mac Allister, and German Florian Wirtz.

Spanish club Real Madrid was represented by three players: Englishman Jude Bellingham, Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, and Brazilian Vinicius Junior. In contrast, Barcelona, who won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup last season, had four players on the list: Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, Spaniards Pedri and Lamine Yamal, and Brazilian winger Raphinha.

The shortlist also included Englishmen Harry Kane and Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Swede Viktor Gyokeres and Englishman Declan Rice (Arsenal), Dutchman Denzel Dumfries and Argentine Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Norwegian Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Englishman Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Scotsman Scott McTominay (Napoli), and Guinean Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund).

Ousmane Dembele and Lamine Yamal appear to be the frontrunners for this year’s award, having delivered outstanding performances with their respective teams, which helped each of them secure three trophies during the 2024-2025 season. (QNA)