Ballon d’Or: From Brilliance to Trophies

The Ballon d’Or is regarded as the most prestigious individual award in football history. Winning it would mean cementing your legacy among the game’s greatest. However, the Ballon d’Or criteria has shifted subtly throughout the years, being an individual award granted to the best individual to now increasingly become influenced by team success, with collective achievements now playing a decisive role, regardless of how good that player was. With a subtle shift in criteria, let us dive deeper into what has changed in the requirements of winning the Ballon d’Or.

The Ballon d’Or used to be presented to the player who had the best individual season regardless of team achievement because it is irrelevant to individual success. The two biggest examples of this was Messi’s 2012 and Ronaldo’s 2013 Ballon d’Or triumphs. In 2013, Ronaldo had 69 goals and 16 assists, being the Champions League top goalscorer, with 12 goals. Despite being the best, statistically, Ronaldo went trophyless that year with Real Madrid. There was controversy because Franck Ribéry won a historic treble with Bayern Munich as well as being the best player on the best team in Europe during that year. He had 23 goals and 27 assists, being named the UEFA Best Player in Europe, although he scored only one goal in the Champions League. Despite his success with Bayern, Ronaldo’s historic individual output when it came to his goalscoring numbers showed that the Ballon d’Or voting still valued personal dominance. This slowly started the debate if the Ballon d’Or should be given to the best player, individually, or the player with the best trophy cabinet for that year.

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Franck Ribéry — 2013 Ballon d’Or season stats comparison, highlighting goals vs trophies.

Cristiano Ronaldo with the 2013 Ballon d’Or after a 69-goal season.

In 2012, despite not winning the Champions League or La Liga, only ending the year with the Copa Del Rey, Messi scored an astonishing 91 goals, setting the record for the most goals in a calendar year to secure his fourth consecutive Ballon d’Or. Although there was no controversy because of his sheer individual brilliance that year, it still highlights that the Ballon d’Or has long been about more than just trophies because team achievements require other players to perform well rather than just one.

Lionel Messi’s 2012 Ballon d’Or season: 91 goals, 22 assists and a record-breaking year that shows how the award once prioritised individual output over titles.

Lionel Messi with the 2012 Ballon d’Or season after a 91-goals season.

The rise of team achievement becoming a factor was first truly highlighted in the 2021 Ballon d’Or, where Jorginho was placed in third after winning the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Euro. Many people at the time believed that he was not the best player in the world and that the voting was a result of being on a highly successful team. In addition, many believed that he was too dependent on penalties and safe distribution rather than elite match-winning moments.

However, the 2025 Ballon d’Or was where collective success became the biggest component, as the controversy became even louder than before. Raphinha of FC Barcelona had 38 goals and 26 assists in all competitions. In the Champions League, he was the top goalscorer, with 13, and top assist provider, with 8, breaking Lionel Messi’s club record for most goal contributions in a single UCL campaign, with 19, and tying Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time record for total goal involvements in a single UCL season, with 21. In addition, he won the domestic treble with Barcelona and the La Liga Player of the Season award. However, despite all this success, Barcelona’s elimination by Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinals, after failing to hold a 3–2 lead despite Raphinha giving the Blaugrana a late advantage, destroyed his chances of winning the award, as he finished fifth. To make matters even worse, zero journalists voted Raphinia as first despite everything he had done that season.

Raphinha finishing fifth in the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

Ousmane Dembélé of Paris Saint-Germain, on the other hand, claimed the Ballon d’Or, but the debates continued between the fans and the media. Dembele had 33 goals and 13 assists, less than Raphinha, and 8 goals and 4 assists in the Champions League, also less than Raphinha. In addition, he was extremely inconsistent in the first half of the season, as he was not scoring or assisting a lot. Overall, he was a quiet player for the first five months of the season. His red card against Bayern Munich in the group stage raised even more questions about his discipline and reliability. However, from January to June, he was more consistent, scoring and assisting a lot more as well as, showing up in the big games. However, the Ballon d’Or is awarded to the player who had the best season from the start, not the player who had the best run in the second half of the season. The biggest factor as to why Dembélé came out on top is simple: He won the Champions League, the biggest trophy in club football, and with a domestic treble for PSG, he surpassed Raphinha in terms of major silverware, 4–3. Being a big name on the Champions League or World Cup-winning team is now one of the biggest shortcuts to winning the Ballon d’Or. Even a “good” season can be enough as long as you lift a major title, often outweighing another player’s better overall stats and consistency. In other words, major titles can be used as a “cover-up” if you had a good but not great season.

Ousmane Dembélé — 2025 Ballon d’Or Winner.

Ousmane Dembélé with the Champions League trophy

With the 2026 Ballon d’Or coming on the horizon, history could repeat itself based on these new criteria. Harry Kane had an outstanding season, scoring 73 goals and winning a domestic treble with Bayern Munich; however, without winning the Champions League or the World Cup, it could possibly weaken his case. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia won the Champions League and showed up in all the big games of the competition, providing 10 goals and six assists. Although his league form was inconsistent, only scoring eight goals, his European heroics could outweigh it. Lamine Yamal’s World Cup win, on the other hand, might overshadow the fact that he was not Spain’s standout performer, ending the tournament with only one goal. Major trophies have become the new standard for the Ballon d’Or, increasingly reflecting team success rather than serving as a clear measure of individual excellence.

Harry Kane with his World Cup bronze medal, Lamine Yamal with the World Cup trophy, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia with the Champions League trophy.