A French player in a French team. If he wins the Golden Ball, Ousmane Dembélé will be the second to perform this feat, reached only by Jean-Pierre Papin, then at Olympique de Marseille, in 1991. The ceremony at the Châtelet Theater in Paris begins at 16h (from Brasilia) on Monday (22).
The award has been awarded since 1956 by France Football magazine, by vote on a hundred specialized journalists, one from each country. It should not be confused with FIFA The Best, delivered at the turn of the year by the International Football Federation. Between 2010 and 2015 there was a fusion of the two awards, which to this day generates confusion in the public.
It can be argued that Paris Saint-Germain striker is not the best player in his country-the undeniable leader of the French team is Kylian Mbappé-and not even of his team-who argues to be the skilled Portuguese midfielder Vitinha.
But they weigh their decisive performances in favor at the most crucial time-the knockout of Champions League, first won by PSG in May. In a team recognized by the collective spirit made by Spanish coach Luis Enrique, Dembélé stood out a little more than the others.
Its biggest competitor is Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal, 18 years old completed in July. Yamal led Barcelona to the Spanish championship title, but his team fell into the Championship semifinal. He is the most valued player in the world today, according to the specialized site Transfermarkt: € 200 million (R $ 1.25 billion). In part due to its 28 years, Dembélé is worth less than half: € 90 million (R $ 560 million).
Seen as out -of -day since he was emerging at Rennes at the age of 17, Dembélé arrived prestigious at Barcelona at 20, but acquired a fickle reputation. Shirt 11 of the French national team champion in Russia in 2018, finished the cup in the bank. After six seasons of ups and downs in Catalonia, in 2023 PSG offered her shirt 10 that had been from Neymar. Dembélé grabbed the opportunity.
By 2023, France Football called the winner in advance to ensure its presence at the ceremony. The name ended up leaking to the press. Since last year, the organizers guarantee, confidentiality lasts until the opening of the envelope.
According to people familiar with the party’s plans, this year’s main prize will be delivered by Ronaldinho Gaúcho, awarded in 2005, while playing at Barcelona. This does not mean, however, that the chances of Lamine Yamal are greater, as the Brazilian star was also an idol of PSG.
The “house” team of the celebration, PSG, will be playing well at the time of the ceremony. His departure against Olympique Marseille, Marseille, for the French Championship, was postponed from Sunday to Monday due to bad weather. This should not prevent Dembélé, removed by a thigh injury, from participating in the delivery of the prize in Paris.
According to the French press, PSG tried to anticipate the game for Monday afternoon to return to Paris in time for the ceremony. But Olympique, a historic rival, refused, saying the time would be inconvenient to his fans.
Thirty players were nominated for the most popular category, best player, including two Brazilian strikers, Raphinha, Barcelona, and Real Madrid Vinicius Junior. European betting houses point to raphinha as a third favorite. Part of the Spanish press has attributed the fall in Vinicius production in the last 12 months to the unexpected loss of the trophy.
In last year’s Golden Ball, Vini starred in a world controversy. When the behind-the-scenes information came about that the winner would not be him, but Roda, Manchester City, Real Madrid, decided to boycott the ceremony (Vinicius won the FIFA The Best). The Spanish press said the Real will do the same this year.
Rodrigo does not compete this year: he lost eight months of the season due to a knee and meniscus ligament injury, having returned to the fields in May alone.
Brazil has two players competing for the female gold ball – Aamanda Gutierres, 24, Palmeiras striker, and veteran Marta, 39, an Orlando Pride striker. Neither is considered favorite. The two stood out this year in the conquest of the Copa America.
The country also competes in the Kopa Trophy (best under-21 player), with striker Estêvão, 18, who recently exchanged Palmeiras for Chelsea; to the Iashin (best goalkeeper) trophy, with Alisson from Liverpool; to the Cruyff (best women’s soccer coach) trophy, with Arthur Elias, from the Brazilian team; and the club of the year, with Botafogo, champion of Libertadores. There is a popular vote on the “play of the year”, in which it competes for the volume of Andreas Pereira for the national team against Peru, in October 2024.
If he won the Golden Ball, Dembélé is also expected to get hurt on the Châtelet Theater stage in Paris, as Rodrigo did last year. He suffered a right thigh injury, playing against Ukraine earlier this month for the World Cup qualifiers, and will be at least a month without acting.
In addition to Papin, four other French players have won the Golden Ball, the most traditional individual football award: Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984 and 1985), Zinédine Zidane (1998) and Karim Benzema (2022). Platini played for Juventus from Italy when he won his trophies, and the other three for Real Madrid.
Until 1993, only European nationality players were competed for the Award. In 1994, the award was extended to any player acting in a European club. Ronaldo was the first Brazilian to conquer him in 1997. Since 2007, the Golden Ball simply awards the best player in the world.
