Carlos Alcaraz names his top three picks for the 2025 Ballon d'Or - with a heavy focus on Barcelona as Paris Saint-Germain stars miss out on top spot
Published 07/07/2025 at 17:04 GMT+1
The worlds of football and tennis collide at regular intervals, with some of the elite in each sport often seen in the stands watching their fellow global stars. David Beckham and Sir Gareth Southgate were seen at Wimbledon last week, while Ousmane Dembele was present for the draw at Roland-Garros. Now, Carlos Alcaraz has waded into the debate around the Ballon d'Or.
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The debate is intensifying as the countdown to the Ballon d'Or continues.
Will one of Paris Saint-Germain's UEFA Champions League-winning stars win the men's award? Could a FIFA Club World Cup triumph help their cause? Or will the gong go elsewhere?
Entering into the debate is young tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, currently defending his title at Wimbledon and due to face Britain's Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The five-time major champion is a Real Madrid fan and has been pictured attending Los Blancos matches in the recent past.
However, there was no sign of his affiliation when he named his top three for this year's award, due to be handed out on September 22 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
Alcaraz, speaking to BBC Sport, announced his top three as: "Lamine Yamal," before pausing, and then adding "Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha."
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Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz (C) follows the La Liga 32nd week football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain on April 21, 2024.
Image credit: Getty Images
The race for the Ballon d'Or is even now still seeing twists and turns, with PSG - including Dembele and their coterie of contending stars - into the semi-finals of the Club World Cup, where they face Real Madrid in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
And Real themselves may yet have a pretender to the golden throne, with Kylian Mbappe winning the Pichichi and European Golden Boot in his first season at the club, and now - despite the emergence of Gonzalo Garcia - helping to fire his team through to the Club World Cup last four.
Yamal starred for Barcelona this term as they won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, even if their Champions League campaign ended in the semi-finals at the hands of Inter.
Club-mate Raphinha also had a stellar season, registering a superlative 34 goals and 25 assists in all competitions for the Blaugrana.
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Ousmane Dembélé of Paris Saint-Germain shows the UEFA Champions League trophy to the crowd as part of the celebrations for his team's 5-0 victory over FC Internazionale Milano in the 2024/25 Champions League Final on Day Nine of the 2025 French Open at Roland Garros on June 02, 2025 in Paris, France.
Image credit: Getty Images
Self-talk key to 'not being afraid'
Alcaraz, 22, faces his toughest test of Wimbledon so far when he takes on a resurgent Norrie.
Ahead of that match, he opened up about the importance of finding the right balance psychologically, a challenge for tennis players and footballers alike.
"Tennis is really a mental sport," he said.
"How you talk to yourself is really, really important through the whole match. So I just try to be as positive as I can. Sometimes it's really difficult.
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Ousmane Dembele, Carlos Alcaraz
Image credit: Getty Images
"A lot of narratives, thoughts come to your mind most of the time because a tennis match could be really long.
"But I'm trying that there is going to be, like, for a few seconds, and then it's gone again. Trying to fill my mind with positive thoughts all the time. Just repeating myself that I can do it, let's go for it, all the things that are really helpful to play your best and not being afraid to play aggressively or to play my A plan.
"That's my conversation with myself, that it's really, really important to fill your mind with positive thoughts."
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