Paris Saint-Germain and France forward Ousmane Dembele beat Lamine Yamal to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or on Monday night, but how did England’s top players fare once all the votes were counted?
No English player has won the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001. Jude Bellingham came close in 2024, placing third behind Vinicius Junior and winner Rodri.
Bellingham made the top 30 again this year, alongside three of his international teammates. Declan Rice, Harry Kane and Cole Palmer also featured on the final shortlist. Read on to find out their final rankings.
Declan Rice, 27th
Midfielder Rice was a major driving force in an Arsenal team that finished second in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.
He scored four goals and provided seven assists in 35 Premier League appearances, plus four in 13 Champions League outings. His standout display arguably came in Arsenal’s 3-0 home win over Real Madrid in April when he scored two spectacular free-kicks.
Rice was also named Player of the Match in the return leg as Arsenal won 2-1 in the Spanish capital.
Arsenal’s Declan Rice finished 27th in the 2025 Ballon d’Or vote
Jude Bellingham, 23rd
Bellingham played the full 2024/25 season with a shoulder injury before undergoing surgery over the summer. Despite that painful issue, the Real Madrid star contributed nine goals and eight assists in 31 La Liga appearances.
The 22-year-old added three goals and three assists in 13 Champions League starts.
He was part of a Real Madrid team that won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, but fell short domestically and in Europe’s biggest competition.
Jude Bellingham ranked 23rd this year, having finished third in 2024
Harry Kane, 13th
Kane finally won a major trophy in 2025 as he helped Bayern Munich regain their Bundesliga crown in style.
The England captain was the top scorer in Germany’s top flight for the second season running, though his 26 league goals were 10 fewer than in the previous campaign.
In all competitions, Kane made 51 Bayern appearances and scored 41 goals, including 11 in the Champions League as Bayern reached the quarter-finals. He also scored in five consecutive England games during the qualifying period for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane ranked 13th in the 2025 Ballon d’Or after a title-winning season
Cole Palmer, 8th
Cole Palmer finished as England’s highest-placed player in the 2025 Ballon d’Or vote.
The 23-year-old scored 15 goals and made eight assists in 37 Premier League outings for Chelsea. He also helped the Blues lift the UEFA Europa Conference League.
But what likely swayed many voters was Palmer’s individual brilliance in the USA over the summer. He started six times for Chelsea at the FIFA Club World Cup, delivering three goals and two assists. Palmer bagged a brace and also set up a goal for João Pedro as Chelsea thrashed European champions PSG 3-0 in the final.
Cole Palmer, pictured with the Club World Cup trophy, was the highest ranked English player
2025 Ballon d’Or top 30 in full
1. Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
2. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)
3. Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)
4. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt)
5. Raphinha (Barcelona, Brazil)
6. Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, Morocco)
7. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
8. Cole Palmer (Chelsea, England)
9. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain, Italy)
10. Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)
11. Pedri (Barcelona, Spain)
12. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli/Paris Saint-Germain, Georgia)
13. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)
14. Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
15. Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting/Arsenal, Sweden)
16. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid, Brazil)
17. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona, Poland)
18. Scott McTominay (Napoli, Scotland)
19. Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal)
20. Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan, Argentina)
21. Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund, Guinea)
22. Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool, Argentina)
23. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England)
24. Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain, Spain)
25. Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan, Netherlands)
26. Erling Haaland (Man City, Norway)
27. Declan Rice (Arsenal, England)
28. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands)
29. Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen/Liverpool, Germany)
30. Michael Olise (Bayern Munich, France)
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