Ousmane Dembélé was officially crowned the winner of The Best FIFA Men’s Player award on Tuesday, with the Paris Saint-Germain superstar celebrated for his monumental achievements in 2025.
Dembélé added the accolade to his Ballon d’Or won earlier this year, following an instrumental role in PSG’s quadruple success last season. The Frenchman scored 35 goals in 53 games during a career-best campaign, as the Parisians secured the Champions League trophy for the first time in their history.
A French Milestone
The Best FIFA Men’s Player recognizes the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. In its current format, Dembélé is the first-ever Frenchman to claim the prize. His compatriot, Zinedine Zidane, won the former FIFA World Player of the Year award three times between 1998 and 2003.
The Voting Process
The accolade is determined by a rigorous voting system involving four key groups, each representing 25% of the total vote:
- National team coaches
- National team captains
- Specialist media representatives
- The general public (fan vote)
Every Winner of The Best FIFA Men’s Player (2016–2025)
Here is the complete list of winners since the award’s inception in 2016, following the split from the Ballon d'Or.
| Year | Winner | Club(s) at time of award |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ousmane Dembélé | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 2024 | Vinícius Júnior | Real Madrid |
| 2023 | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami |
| 2022 | Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 2021 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich |
| 2020 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich |
| 2019 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2018 | Luka Modrić | Real Madrid |
| 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| 2016 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
Ousmane Dembélé is The Best FIFA Men’s player 2025.
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 16, 2025
He had himself a 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐈𝐂 season 🏆 pic.twitter.com/q29Ni3coZU