FIFA Best Awards took centre stage on Tuesday night in Doha, Qatar, with French forward Ousmane Dembélé being crowned the Best FIFA Men’s Player while Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí captured the Best FIFA Women’s Player award.
The FIFA Best Awards ceremony, which is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious nights in football alongside other major honours such as the Ballon d’Or, brought together the best players in the world to honor excellence from the 2024–25 season.
Alongside the individual player accolades, coach, goalkeeper and goal awards were also presented, underscoring achievements across the sport.
Dembélé’s Historic Win at the FIFA Best Awards
Ousmane Dembélé’s rise to the top of world football was capped off by winning the Best FIFA Men’s Player award at the FIFA Best Awards. This was his first time winning this award. The 28-year-old French forward had an amazing season with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), helping the team achieve some of its biggest successes, including winning the UEFA Champions League title.
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Dembélé scored an impressive 35 goals and assisted 16 others in 53 games across all competitions in the 2024–25 season. He was a key player in PSG’s historic UEFA Champions League win and their domestic titles, including Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France. His performances not only helped PSG win many trophies, but they also earned him a lot of praise from fans and experts all over the world.
Dembélé won the Best FIFA Men’s Player award at the ceremony, beating out a strong shortlist that included Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and France teammate Kylian Mbappé. The award is based on votes from coaches, captains, media representatives, and fans.
Bonmatí’s Continued Dominance in Women’s Soccer
At the same FIFA Best Awards ceremony, Aitana Bonmatí, a midfielder for Spain and Barcelona, won the Best FIFA Women’s Player award for the third year in a row. This makes her even more of a star in the women’s game.
Bonmatí had a great season with Barcelona, helping the team win the domestic treble and being named Player of the Tournament at Euro 2025, where she played for Spain. Her performances were critical to both club and country, blending leadership, creativity and technical finesse.
The midfielder’s achievement at the FIFA Best Awards was widely celebrated by fans and commentators, who noted her consistent excellence and impact over multiple seasons.
Coaching and Squad Honours at the FIFA Best Awards
The FIFA Best Awards honored great leadership and contributions from players on the team during the 2024–25 season, in addition to the main player awards.
Luis Enrique, the head coach of PSG, was named Best FIFA Men’s Coach after leading his team to a huge domestic treble and the club’s first Champions League title.
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Sarina Wiegman won the Best FIFA Women’s Coach award for leading England to back-to-back UEFA Women’s Euro titles. This shows how consistently successful she has been on the international stage.
Goalkeepers and Goal Awards
The 2025 FIFA Best Awards also honored great goalkeeping. Gianluigi Donnarumma won Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper for his work during PSG’s historic season, and Hannah Hampton won Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper for her important role with Chelsea and England.
Santiago Montiel of Club Atlético Independiente won the prestigious Puskás Award for the best goal of the year after his acrobatic shot wowed everyone. Meanwhile, Lizbeth Ovalle won the Marta Award for the best goal in women’s football for her amazing scorpion kick goal in Liga MX Femenil.
FIFA Best XI and Premier League Representation
The FIFA Best Awards didn’t just honor certain people; they also honored the best players on the best XI teams in the world. The men’s Best XI had players from some of Europe’s best leagues, including PSG’s Donnarumma and Vitinha, who are both very good.
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Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham were two of England’s players who made the FIFA Best XI. The men’s Best XI featured a mix of talent from across Europe’s biggest leagues, including notable picks from PSG’s stellar squad such as Donnarumma and Vitinha.
Dembele’s Path to the Top Spot
Ousmane Dembélé’s road to winning the Best FIFA Men’s Player award was not a walk in the park. Dembélé was once thought to be a great but injury-prone player when he played for Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund. After moving to PSG in 2023, he changed his game.
After getting used to the number 10 position and getting over a series of fitness problems, he put on a string of great performances that have come to define the modern phase of his career. The 2024–25 season was a breakout year for the French forward. He scored crucial goals and was a key part of PSG’s successful campaigns in all competitions.
His great work, which included important goals in the UEFA Champions League and regular contributions in domestic competitions, solidified his place as one of the best attackers in the world.
Winning the FIFA Best Awards for 2025, in addition to the Ballon d’Or earlier in the year, underscored just how far Dembélé has come in global football prominence.
The Voting and Significance of the FIFA Best Awards
A voting process with national team coaches, national team captains, members of the media, and fans from all over the world decides the FIFA Best Awards. Each group gets a quarter of the total vote. This different way of voting shows that there is a general agreement on how well players do in different types of competitions.
FIFA’s annual Best Awards are different from other individual awards like the Ballon d’Or because they focus on how well the best players and teams work together.
Both players and coaches see the FIFA Best Awards as a key way to measure how well a player or team has done over the course of a season. The awards recognize achievements in domestic leagues, continental competitions, and international tournaments.
Global Reactions and Impact of the 2025 FIFA Best Awards
The reception to the 2025 FIFA Best Awards winners was enthusiastic across football media and fan communities. Fans on social media were very happy for Dembélé’s recognition, especially because of how important he was to PSG’s historic season and how he kept going despite injury struggles over the course of his career.
Many people talked about Bonmatí’s continued success in women’s football, with many pointing out how she has consistently made a difference at both the club and international levels. This was shown by her winning the Best FIFA Women’s Player award for the third year in a row.
The awards also started a bigger conversation about the game’s future stars and how up-and-coming players like Lamine Yamal and Premier League stars fit into the global conversation.
This shows that the FIFA Best Awards get fans excited about not only recognizing current stars but also looking forward to the next generation of football players.
Legacy and Look Ahead
The 2025 FIFA Best Awards will be remembered not only for the individual talent that was on display, but also for how they celebrated the growing global tapestry of football talent and achievement.
The awards show how great players, coaches, goalkeepers, and goal scorers from all over the sport are by honoring players like Ousmane Dembélé and Aitana Bonmatí.
Winning the Best FIFA Men’s Player award will be a big deal for Dembélé, as it shows how far he has come in his career and how important he is in football. Bonmatí’s third straight women’s top honor adds to a long list of successes in her career.
By winning these awards at the FIFA Best Awards 2025, both players have not only been praised for their on-field play, but they have also helped shape the stories that are told about football around the world, inspiring fans, influencing future generations, and setting the standard for elite performance around the world.
