Egypt was represented by Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah in the 2025 Ballon d’Or, but what surprised everyone was who voted for the Pharaohs in France Football magazine.
As usual, 100 journalists from around the world vote to determine the winner of the Ballon d’Or. They provide a list of 30 names, rank the players, and based on the total number of points each player achieves in each position with each journalist, the highest-scoring player wins the award.
Ousmane Dembélé outperformed Lamine Yamal by more than 300 votes to win the sixth Ballon d’Or in French history.
According to L’Equipe, Yamal came in first place among only 11 journalists, and his worst-ever ranking in the overall vote was thanks to the journalist who voted for Egypt.
This journalist, who voted Mohamed Salah the best player in the world, placed Yamal, despite all the 18-year-old’s achievements, in ninth place on his list, surprising everyone immediately after France Football revealed the list.
Ultimately, this didn’t help Yamal, who lost several points. Meanwhile, Dembélé benefited from the confidence of 73 journalists who voted him first, earning the award he deserved after his historic treble-winning achievement with Paris Saint-Germain.
