PSG striker Ousmane Dembele has secured the biggest individual award in soccer. The player bagged the Ballon d’Or on Monday night after scoring 35 goals and making 14 assists in 53 matches for the French champions last season.
PSG won Ligue 1, the French Cup, and the Champions League
Given Dembele’s performance in the 2024/2025 season, it comes as little surprise that he took home the award that acknowledges the best player in European soccer. He was joint top scorer in Ligue 1, with 21 goals, and secured the player of the year in both that and the UEFA Champions League. PSG won Ligue 1, the French Cup, and the Champions League.
This success showed in the odds for a Dembele win. He had an implied win probability of 73% going into Monday’s award ceremony, with odds of -275. If you placed $100 on the French forward, you would secure profit of $36.36. This was followed by Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal at +400 and other PSG player Vitinha at an outside +2000.
At VegasSlotsOnline News, Dembele’s win got us all thinking, what Ballon D’or players would have had the longest odds to win the award before the start of their season. Well, we have taken a look through the history books to find the answer to that question.
Check out the five rank outsiders below.
Matthias Sammer
1996
First up, we have the tightest outcome in Ballon d’Or history. In 1996, German defensive midfielder Matthias Sammer beat Ronaldo Nazario to the award by just a single point, with 144 to the Brazilian’s 143.
The Borussia Dortmund player had a great season with his club, securing their second domestic league title as well as the UEFA Champions League. However, it was actually on the international stage that Sammer shone the brightest.
Sammer takes much of the credit for Germany’s win
While Ronaldo might be the name that still has the firmest place in soccer legend, Sammer takes much of the credit for Germany’s win in the 1996 UEFA Euro tournament. He was named best player in the competition, and his leadership and presence in defense is seen by many as the reason for German dominance.
Michael Owen
2001
Given his short-lived and injury-plagued career, it often comes as a surprise to many that Englishman Michael Owen is among the Ballon d’Or’s winners. But nevertheless, his time did come in 2001 after an exceptional season for club and country.
The forward was just 22 years of age when he took home the trophy. And it seems the star couldn’t even believe it himself. Commenting after the win he said: “I couldn’t believe it when I first heard the news. I knew that I was one of the five players in question, but it still seemed unbelievable to me.”
an emphatic hattrick against Germany in Munich
Owen beat out Italy’s Francesco Totti, Spain’s Raul, and his fellow countryman David Beckham to take home the win. While his club finished second in the English Premier League, it was Owen’s international success that set him up for the win. This included an emphatic hattrick against Germany in Munich to help his team bag the top spot in FIFA World Cup qualifying group.
Owen was the first of his countrymen to win the award in 33 years and remains the most recent to win it from England.
Lev Yashin
1963
Next up, we have the first and only goalkeeper to win the award, putting him as a rank outsider in the odds just on his position alone.
USSR goalkeeper Lev Yashin actually had a difficult 1962. He conceded seven goals in four matches during the World Cup, seeing his team bow out in a quarterfinal match against Chile. When his team returned to the Soviet Union, many blamed Yashin for the result due to his poor performances.
labeled “the devil” after his performance in a game against Italy
However, he faired much better in the 1962/1963 season with his club, guiding Dynamo Moscow to victory in the All-Union Championship and conceding just six goals in 27 matches. He was also dubbed the “octopus” by Western press after not conceding a goal in a centenary soccer game at Wembley Stadium, and then labeled “the devil” after his performance in a game against Italy in the European Championship qualifiers.
In his career, Yashin was 11-time best goalkeeper in the USSR, five time champion of the Soviet Union, and three-time winner of the USSR cup.
Andriy Shevchenko
2004
In 2004, it was the turn of AC Milan’s Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko to add his name to the list of Ballon d’Or winners. There is much debate over this edition of the award, with some disputing that others deserved to win more than Shevchenko.
scored 36 goals and made five assists in 51 games
It is undeniable that the Ukrainian star had an incredible season. He scored 36 goals and made five assists in 51 games. Along the way, he secured the Serie A with AC Milan and was named the Ukrainian Footballer of the Year. It is also worth noting that Serie A was one of, if not the most competitive league in the world at this point, with four different teams winning the top league over the previous five seasons.
The name that crops up most in the debate over Shevchenko’s win is Deco of Portugal. The player, who started the season for Porto and ended it with Barcelona, had a starring role in epic results for both clubs. In addition, Brazil’s Ronaldinho was the star player for his Barcelona in the 2004 season, and the best player in La Liga.
Nevertheless, Schevchenko’s dominance in Serie A could not be disputed.
Luka Modric
2018
Finally, we end with one of the oldest Ballon d’Or winners in history. Luka Modric secured the trophy in 2018 at 33 years and 3 months in age.
While the playmaker has secured his position among the Real Madrid greats over his long career, and furthered this with a third-straight Champions League win in the 2017-2018 season, it was his performance with his national team in the 2018 FIFA World Cup that sealed the deal for the star.
Against all odds, Modric guided his relatively modest team to the final of the competition, losing out 4-2 in the final to France. Modric won Player of the Tournament for his outstanding performances during the World Cup.
the first new player to win the award since Kaka in 2007
Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a surprise for Modric to win the Ballon d’Or had Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi not shared the trophy over the decade before. He became the first new player to win the award since Kaka in 2007, and the first ever player from Croatia to take it home.
