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Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele is tipped to hold off Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal and win the men's Ballon d'Or on Monday, while Aitana Bonmati could win a third consecutive women's prize.

The world of football will gather for a glitzy ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris to discover who will be the next winners of an award dominated for so long by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

That duo won the Ballon d'Or 13 times between them from 2008 to 2023.

The award, the most prestigious individual prize in football, went last year to Manchester City midfielder Rodri after he captained Spain to Euro 2024 glory.

With Rodri not a contender this year after he suffered an injury-hit campaign last season, 28-year-old Dembele has emerged as the favourite from a list of nominees dominated by Champions League winners PSG.

Nine members of the PSG team that won the European crown for the first time in a dazzling 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan feature among the 30 nominees.

Alongside Dembele are Desire Doue, Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha, as well as goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who has since moved to Manchester City.

But Dembele would appear to have the edge after a magnificent season in which he filled the void left in Paris by the departed Kylian Mbappe, scoring 35 goals.

That contribution helped PSG to also complete a domestic clean sweep and also reach the final of the Club World Cup.

It was a spectacular campaign for the French club and an even more extraordinary one for Dembele, the winger turned centre-forward.

"It is nice after what was a wonderful season with PSG," Dembele told Le Monde when asked what it meant to be a leading contender for the prize.

"I think it's true that I am one of the favourites, but we will see what happens."

Many of the PSG nominees will have to miss the ceremony after their Ligue 1 match against Marseille was postponed on Sunday by 24 hours due to storms in southern France. Dembele, though, is injured so could attend.

Yamal, still just 18, stands out among the other nominees having emerged as a superstar on the wing at Barcelona, where he is seen as the successor to Messi.

He won the Kopa Trophy for the best player aged under 21 at last year's Ballon d'Or gala, fresh from having helped Spain to European Championship glory.

He scored 18 goals in 55 games in all competitions last season as Barcelona won La Liga and the Spanish Copa del Rey, but they lost in the Champions League semi-finals to Inter.

"I don't dream of winning one Ballon d'Or, I dream of winning lots," Yamal said recently.

erad:
It hasn't been officially announced and you're writing this... You people are weird sha.

erad:
It hasn't been officially announced and you're writing this... You people are weird sha.

fergie001:
The award is to be presented by 2005 winner, Ronaldinho Gaucho

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/psg-star-dembele-expected-beat-094838154.html

occfx:
Vinicius is just unlucky... He supposed to be heree

timilehin007:
Hurr, he is been told . So he would know how to prepare. U mean you dont know most of the winners knew ahead? At least hours to the announcement

CoronaVirusPro:
The politics in FIFA does not even make me respect the award again.

Everything is politics!