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Ousmane Dembélé has been named the 2025 FIFA The Best Men’s Player, following an extraordinary season with Paris Saint-Germain.

The France and Paris Saint-Germain attacker won the men’s FIFA Best award at a ceremony in Qatar on Tuesday, while Barcelona midfield maestro Aitana Bonmati collected the women’s prize.

FIFA announced the award on Tuesday, recognising the French forward’s instrumental role in PSG’s wins.

Dembele played a key part in the club’s first-ever UEFA Champions League triumph, scoring eight goals and providing six assists throughout their successful European campaign.

READ ALSO: Donnarumma Wins 2025 FIFA ‘The Best’ Men’s Goalkeeper Award

The 28-year-old’s form was also pivotal in PSG’s domestic dominance, as they secured a treble with victories in Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, and the Trophée des Champions.

He was named MVP of both the UEFA Champions League and Ligue 1 for the 2024/25 season, and was joint-top scorer in Ligue 1.

In addition to his club success, Dembele helped France secure third place at the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League. He was also part of the squad that reached the final of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup™.

Dembélé enjoyed an outstanding 2024/25 season, winning the UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and the Trophée des Champions with Paris Saint-Germain.

Ousmane Dembélé #TheBest pic.twitter.com/Rlotq3vWaE

He also finished as runner-up at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and helped France secure third place in the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League.

Individually, Dembélé was also named UEFA Champions League Player of the Season, selected in the UEFA Champions League Team of the Season, awarded Ligue 1 Player of the Year, and included in the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year.

The shortlist for The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award was drawn up by a panel of experts, based on performances from 11 August 2024 to 2 August 2025.

From this shortlist, votes were cast by men’s national team coaches, national team captains, football journalists, and fans on FIFA’s official website.

Voters selected their first, second, and third choices, with points awarded as follows: five points for first place, three for second, and one for third.

Selections from the four voting groups each accounted for 25% of the total vote.

In the event of a tie, the player with the most first-choice selections from national team captains would be awarded the honour.

The voting process was supervised by independent observers to ensure transparency.

Dembélé’s incredible achievements throughout the year earned him the highest number of points, making him the rightful recipient of the 2025 The Best Men’s Player Award.

Gianluigi Donnarumma has been named the 2025 FIFA The Best Men’s Goalkeeper, claiming the honour for the first time in his career.

FIFA announced the award on Tuesday, recognising the Italian’s outstanding performances during a trophy-laden season with former club Paris Saint-Germain.

Donnarumma played a decisive role in PSG’s UEFA Champions League triumph, keeping a clean sheet in their emphatic 5–0 victory over Internazionale in the final on 31 May 2025. He also delivered a series of commanding displays throughout the knockout stages.

On the domestic front, the 26-year-old helped PSG secure Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Champions.

READ ALSO: Dembele, Yamal, Donnarumma, Biggest Winners At 2025 Ballon d’Or

The goalkeeper further featured in the squad that finished runners-up at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.

Now plying his trade with Premier League giants Manchester City, Donnarumma finished ahead of fellow nominees Alisson Becker, Thibaut Courtois, Emiliano Martínez, Manuel Neuer, David Raya, Yann Sommer and Wojciech Szczęsny.

His key achievements during the assessment period include winning the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1 and Coupe de France, lifting the 2024 Trophée des Champions, finishing runner-up at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, and earning a place in the UEFA Champions League Team of the Season.

The winner was determined from a shortlist compiled by a panel of experts, based on performances between August 11, 2024, and August 2, 2025.

Votes were cast by men’s national team coaches, captains, football journalists and fans on FIFA’s official website.

Each voting group accounted for 25 per cent of the final result, with nominees receiving points for first, second, and third-place selections.

The goalkeeper with the highest total points was declared the winner, with tie-breaks decided by the number of first-choice votes from national team captains.

Donnarumma was previously a runner-up for the FIFA THE BEST GOALKEEPER award in 2021.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes told Portuguese media the Premier League club had wanted to sell him this summer after receiving interest from Saudi Arabia.

But the 31-year-old claimed manager Ruben Amorim still had him in his plans and that convinced him to stay at Old Trafford.

“My passion and empathy for the club were the same, but there comes a point where money becomes more important to them than you,” Fernandes told Canal 11, a channel owned by the Portuguese Football Federation, on Monday.

“The club wanted me to leave. I said it to the directors and I think they didn’t have the courage to make that decision because the coach wanted me.

“But if I had said I wanted to leave, even if the coach wanted me to stay, the club would have let me go.”

READ ALSO: Man United Forward Sesko Out ‘For A Few Weeks’

Fernandes, who has 103 goals in 307 appearances for Man Utd in all competitions since arriving in 2020, was also reportedly hurt by the club hierarchy’s willingness to part ways with him.

“The feeling I got from the club was, ‘if you leave, it’s not so bad for us’. That hurt me a little,” he said, according to comments reported on the website of Portuguese sports daily A Bola.

The playmaker said he had considered a move to Saudi Arabia, following in the footsteps of compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo who made the move to the kingdom in 2023 after his acrimonious departure from Old Trafford.

Nigeria’s dreams of making the 2026 World Cup may not be over yet! This is because FIFA is investigating the DR Congo over player eligibility in the play-off for the competition.

The Super Eagles lost to the Leopards of DR Congo in November in the final of the African playoffs for the competition.

But the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi told Channels Television that Nigeria has written to FIFA to investigate DR Congo’s use of ineligible players during the 2026 FIFA World Cup playoffs in Morocco.

Nigeria are accusing the Congolese FA of deceit in the clearance of players for their national team despite a contravention of the country’s citizenship rules. 

Sanusi told reporters that DR Congo’s laws forbids having dual nationality and said many of the country’s players at the playoffs had both Congolese and European passports. 

“FIFA cleared the players because FIFA’s eligibility rule is different from DR Congo’s rule. FIFA regulations say that once you have the passport of your country, you are eligible,” the NFF scribe said. 

“But our contention is that FIFA was deceived into clearing them. Because it is not the responsibility of FIFA to ensure that the regulations of DR Congo are being abided by. It was on the basis of what was presented to FIFA that the players were cleared. But we are saying it was fraudulent.”

READ ALSO: [W/Cup] DR Congo To Play Jamaica/New Caledonia In Intercontinental Playoffs (FULL FIXTURES)

The Super Eagles lost 4-3 in the final of the playoffs, ending their hopes of reaching the tournament in the US, Mexico and Canada. 

The Leopards will play the winners of the game between Jamaica and New Caledonia in the final of the intercontinental playoffs for a ticket to the World Cup.

Paris Saint-Germain were ordered to pay their former forward Kylian Mbappe up to 61 million euros ($71.8 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses by a French labour court on Tuesday.

France captain Mbappe, who left PSG in June 2024 to join Real Madrid, had been claiming over 260 million euros in total from his former club.

PSG, in turn, had demanded that 17/2Mbappe pay them 440 million euros.

Mbappe, 26, also claimed the Parisian club applied the wrong French legal classification to his contract, but that was rejected by the court.

The labour court said the final figure of between 60 million and 61 million euros was made up of 55 million euros in unpaid salary and around six million euros in holiday payments.

Qatari-owned PSG did not immediately say if they intend to appeal.

Lawyers for Mbappe said in a statement they “noted with satisfaction the decision given by the labour court”.

“It re-establishes a simple truth — even in the professional football industry, labour laws apply to everyone,” the lawyers added in a statement.

READ ALSO: Salah’s Future In Focus As Liverpool Face Brighton

The French club had said they were basing the figure they were claiming in part on a botched 300m-euro transfer to Saudi club Al Hilal, which Mbappe refused in June 2023.

Mbappe left for Real Madrid on a free transfer when his contract expired the following summer.

He insisted he made no agreement in 2023 to waive any payment from the club.

Mbappe initially filed a complaint in June over the way he was treated by PSG at the start of the 2023-24 season.

Mbappe argues that he was sidelined by PSG and made to train with players the club was trying to offload after refusing to agree a new contract.

It is a widespread practice in France that prompted the players’ union to lodge a complaint last year.

Mbappe was not invited to take part in PSG’s 2023 pre-season tour of Asia and missed the first game of that season, but was later recalled to the team after holding talks with the club.

After seven seasons with PSG, he joined Real Madrid, where he earns a reported annual salary of 30 million euros.

Mbappe scored 256 goals in 308 games for PSG, but the club won the Champions League for the first time last season following his departure.

Victor Osimhen used to sell newspapers in the crowded, traffic-clogged streets of Lagos: now he creates headlines as a consistent scorer for Nigeria and Galatasaray.

As Nigeria prepare to face Group C rivals Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda during December at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco, much is expected from the 26-year-old.

“He is the greatest striker in the world,” says head coach Eric Chelle as the Super Eagles seek a fourth AFCON title and first since 2013.

READ ALSO: [AFCON 2025]11 Players Now In Eagles’ Camp, 12 More To Arrive Monday

Nigeria have an abundance of attacking talent, and fellow former African player of the year award winner Ademola Lookman is among those who could partner Osimhen.

The story of Osimhen is typical of so many African footballers. It is a classic rags-to-riches tale as seemingly insurmountable odds are overcome to achieve stardom.

Osimhen revealed his childhood difficulties in a series of social media posts, hoping they would inspire Nigerians facing similar adversities.

His earliest memories of life in the Nigerian commercial capital are of dusty streets and the stench from a waste dump.

“I had to sell newspapers and bottles of water to help my family survive,” recalled the star who turns 27 on December 29, the day before Nigeria face Uganda in their final group match.

A stroke of luck changed his life and propelled him on a path that would lead him to be crowned 2023 African player of the year.

A candidate for a place in the national under-17 team for the 2015 World Cup, he initially failed to impress coach Emmanuel Amuneke and was dropped.

But several assistant coaches disagreed with the decision and asked Amuneke to give Osimhen a second chance.

Amuneke, scorer of both goals when Nigeria beat Zambia 2-1 in the 1994 AFCON final in Tunisia, heeded their pleas.

Given a second chance, Osimhen went on to score 10 goals in seven matches and play a key role as Nigeria won the tournament in Chile.

– ‘Thanks to Amuneke’ –

Osimhen has never forgotten the role Amuneke played in launching his career, lavishing praise on him during an acceptance speech when voted the bset player in Africa.

“Special thanks goes to Emmanuel Amuneke. Without him I do not think I would be standing here holding one of the most prestigious awards in international football,” he told the audience in Rabat.

Spotted by scouts in Chile, Osimhen moved to Europe, but his scoring skills deserted him when he joined Wolfsburg.

He failed to score in 14 matches and was loaned to Charleroi, where he rediscovered his scoring touch, netting 12 times in 25 matches.

Next stop for the Nigerian was Lille in neighbouring France. He spent one season there, averaging a goal every two matches.

Napoli splashed a club record 70 million euros in 2020 to sign Osimhen and he repaid the faith in him by helping the club end in 2023 a three-decade wait for a Serie A title.

Osimhen was hot property and the media linked him with a move to the Saudi Pro League, Chelsea or Paris Saint-Germain.

But he went to Istanbul-based Galatasaray instead, first on loan, then permanently. In Turkey, he has maintained his ability to score frequently.

Osimhen has been an equally prolific goal poacher for Nigeria, scoring 31 in 45 internationals since his 2017 debut, including four in a 2024 AFCON qualifier against Sao Tome e Principe.

In recent months, he bagged a hat-trick against Benin and two against Gabon in 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

But the Super Eagles will be notable absentees from the global showpiece next year after losing the African play-offs final against the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties in Morocco.

Osimhen was forced to retire injured at half-time against the Congolese, and many Nigerian supporters blamed the loss on his absence.