Mohamed Salah’s 2025 Ballon d’Or Ranking Revealed

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah had to settle for a fourth-place finish in this year’s Ballon d’Or.

Only Vitinha, Lamine Yamal and eventual winner Ousmane Dembélé finished above the Egyptian star.

The talismanic forward conquered all before him in the Premier League, finishing as the leading scorer and assist provider while Liverpool won the title. Salah directly contributed to more top-flight goals in 2024–25 singlehanded (47) than six clubs could muster as a collective, including Manchester United (44).

Yet, for all his domestic dominance, Salah’s failure to exert himself in the Champions League likely cost him when it came to the individual reckoning. The 33-year-old failed to make a significant impact as Liverpool were knocked out by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16.

Nevertheless, the 2024–25 campaign should remain one to celebrate for Salah.

Liverpool’s perennial top scorer had endured a relative dip in form during Jürgen Klopp’s farewell campaign, mustering just the 18 Premier League goals (and 10 assists) while the pair had a notable spat on the touchline at the London Stadium in the final weeks of the 2023–24 campaign. Salah also happened to overlooked Klopp when naming his favourite managers.

Mohamed Salah has started the new season just as he finished the last. | Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

Arne Slot assumed the helm on Merseyside in 2024 and sought to harness his star man’s best qualities without forcing him to expend all his energy off the ball. “You can see the numbers,” Salah explained after Liverpool clinched the club’s second Premier League title.

“Now I don't have to defend much. The tactics are quite different. I said, ‘As long as you rest me defensively, I will provide offensively,’ so I am glad that he did. He listened a lot, and you can see the numbers.”

Numbers are increasingly what Salah is all about. Liverpool matches are increasingly likely to ebb and flow while the right winger perches on the periphery, skulking around almost with an air of indifference before somehow ending the 90 minutes with another crucial goal and assist.

To paraphrase B.J. Armstrong’s assessment of late-era Michael Jordan, Salah doesn’t even really play football any more. He’s just figured out how to win.