The 10 best footballers in the world: Dembele, Yamal, Haaland ranked

A new king of the global game was crowned at the 2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony, with Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele becoming the latest name to follow in the footsteps of football icons including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the most prestigious individual prize of all.

The former Borussia Dortmund phenom sauntered up to the Theatre du Chatelet stage to collect his glittering golden ball, on account of being voted the world's best player by a panel of esteemed journalists for his remarkable feats in the 2024-25 campaign.

Dembele propelled PSG to a long-awaited first Champions League title with eight goals and six assists from 15 appearances in the competition, contributing to an astronomical 51 goal contributions from 53 games as Luis Enrique's men also claimed Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Trophee des Champions glory.

The France international pipped the likes of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Mohamed Salah to become the latest first-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, but does that make the France international the current best player in the world in our eyes?

Here, Sports Mole casts its vote for the 10 greatest active footballers on the planet right now.

10: Achraf Hakimi

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Few players illustrate just how much the game has changed over the past decade or so than Hakimi, whose attacking ability from right-back was a leading factor in Paris Saint-Germain finally ending their Champions League hoodoo back in May.

Hakimi was utterly remarkable on PSG’s run to glory, scoring four and assisting five goals on the continent, while also putting up equally-impressive numbers as the club cruised to the Ligue 1 title.

The Moroccan even continued that form into the Club World Cup, scoring two and assisting two across four successive matches, as Luis Enrique’s men reached the final. 

9: Ousmane Dembele

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While Hakimi and Vitinha, among others, all played their part in winning the quadruple for PSG, no player had quite the impact of Dembele, whose performances in 2025 made him the clear favourite for the Ballon d’Or.

After not scoring double figures for goals in any league season since his breakout at Rennes in 2015-16, Dembele went and netted 21 as PSG cruised to the Ligue 1 title, while the winger also contributed to 14 goals in the Champions League.

Dembele had scored 15 goals in 2025 by February 11 this year, which equalled the most he had ever managed in a calendar year, illustrating how electric his form has been over the past few months, and he also became the first PSG player ever to score hat tricks and back-to-back games, away to Stuttgart and Brest in the space of three days.

In 2025-26, Dembele has struggled with injuries, which is one reason why he has slipped down the rankings.

8: Declan Rice

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Leading the way in both the Premier League and Champions League at the time of writing, it is only fair that Arsenal have one representative in the top-10 list, and their indomitable midfield metronome gets the nod.

Perhaps the best compliment one can pay Declan Rice is that no-one is talking about his transfer fee as a waste of money, as the England international has been worth every penny of the £105m that Arsenal spent on him; those two free kicks against Real Madrid were arguably worth £50m each.

Devastating from any dead-ball situation, an unrelenting ball carrier and reliable in front of goal when the opportunity presents itself, Rice has helped elevate Arsenal to new levels, and it would be a travesty if he ends 2025-26 without a winners' medal around his neck.

7: Michael Olise

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Michael Olise has elevated his game to new heights since joining Bayern Munich from Crystal Palace in the summer of 2024, and he can now be considered as one of the world's best wingers.

The technically-gifted and skilful 23-year-old won the Bundesliga title and was named the division's Rookie of the Season after a sensational debut campaign in Germany in which he contributed with 20 goals and 23 assists in 55 appearances across all competitions, breaking an array of records in the process.

Olise continues to play an integral role for Vincent Kompany's side this season, and he took just 24 games to reach 20 direct involvements for the current campaign.

6: Vitinha

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The unheralded hero from PSG’s dream season was midfielder Vitinha, who formed a fantastic partnership with his partners-in-crime Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz, becoming an excellent trio in Luis Enrique’s midfield, and are both unfortunate to miss out on this list in their own right.

In the knockout stages of the Champions League, no midfielder could boss games as easily as Vitinha, who was instrumental in each round, whether that was against Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal or in their dominant win over Inter Milan in the final.

If the club season was not enough, Vitinha then went on to win the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, playing 120 minutes in the final with Spain, and scoring one of their five successful spot kicks.

5: Pedri

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When Pedri's body continually broke down, some may have feared another Ansu Fati-type situation developing at Barcelona - an immensely talented youngster being run into the ground and failing to reach his incredibly high ceiling due to persistent injuries.

However, the Spain international elevated his game to extraordinary new heights in the 2024-25 season to help La Blaugrana reclaim the La Liga title, and Barca boss Hansi Flick can justifiably claim to boast the best midfielder in the world in his Camp Nou ranks.

The legacies of Xavi and Andres Iniesta are in safe hands with Pedri, whose ability to evade pressure, progress play and fashion opportunities for his teammates is second to none - the true definition of a midfield maestro.

4: Kylian Mbappe

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While there was no major first-season silverware for Mbappe at Real Madrid, as he watched on and saw his boyhood club PSG lift an elusive Champions League crown, it was another phenomenal campaign for the French forward.

Following his high-profile move from PSG, Mbappe scored 43 goals across all competitions, with an eight-game stretch at the end of the season, which also includes France’s two UEFA Nations League matches in June, resulting in 12 goals and two assists.

Mbappe will be as determined as ever to win the Champions League now after seeing his former teammates do so, which will also aid his pursuit of a first Ballon d’Or - another key factor in his decision to move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

The 2018 World Cup winner has made an electric start to the 2025-26 season too, putting him in early contention for an elusive Ballon d'Or.

3: Harry Kane

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Where would Bayern Munich be without Harry Kane?

The England captain has been a revelation at Bayern since joining from Tottenham Hotspur in 2023, scoring a total of 108 goals and providing 29 assists in 118 appearances across all tournaments, with 75 of those strikes netted in just 73 Bundesliga matches.

Kane won the Bundesliga Golden Boot in his first two seasons with the German giants and is already in the driving seat to win the award for a third successive year, thanks in no small part to his 10 Bundesliga hat-tricks in just 76 games - the fewest time any player has taken to reach a double-figure of trebles.

2: Erling Haaland

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Despite coming under fire for not helping Manchester City to any trophies in the 2024-25 season, Haaland still hit over 30 goals yet again for Pep Guardiola’s men, maintaining his place as one of the world’s most-feared strikers.

This time around, the former Borussia Dortmund prospect has finally broken the Premier League record he would have undoubtedly had his sights set on breaking - scoring 100 goals in the competition in record time.

With a long-running contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2034, Alan Shearer ought to be quaking in his boots as the Golden Boot favourite chases down his all-time Premier League scoring record.

1: Lamine Yamal

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While not the recipient of the Ballon d’Or, there is only one player who can currently top this list, and it is Barcelona’s new number 10: teenage superstar Yamal.

Making his Barca debut at 15, and becoming a regular at 16, Yamal was one of the first names on Spain’s teamsheet at a victorious Euro 2024 after an impressive breakout season in 2023-24, and after being named Young Player of the Tournament, and scoring one of the competition’s greatest goals in the semi-final versus France, he has gone from strength to strength.

A domestic treble followed, where Yamal was a shining light for the Catalan club, and even though they fell to a 7-6 aggregate defeat to Inter in the Champions League semi-finals, it will be tough to find a better pair of performances from a single player across two legs of a knockout tie in the competition’s history - that is how special a talent the 18-year-old is.

Yamal has since made a sparkling start to the 2025-26 campaign, and there can be few doubts about his place at the top of the footballing ladder.

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