- We’ve Ranked The Top 10 Best Players In The World For The Just Concluded 2024/25 Season
The 2024/25 season has concluded, and it did so with an absolute shocker in the Champions League final. PSG’s young, exciting, and hardworking squad showed the world how entertaining football can be once again by defeating Inter Milan 5-0 in the final of the Champions League.
Two months ago, Inter Milan were chasing a treble, but they ended the season with nothing, as they also lost the league to Napoli.
Liverpool reigned supreme in England, and Mohamed Salah had another impressive season. In Spain, Barcelona dominated Real Madrid, beating them four times (twice to win a trophy) and twice in the league as they reclaimed the La Liga title.
The best players around Europe have made this season a memorable one. So, let’s rank the top 10 best players in the world for the 2024/25 season.
10 – Gianluigi Donnarumma
Donnarumma has fully reclaimed his place as one of the best goalkeepers in the world after a wonderful 2024/25 campaign with Paris Saint-Germain.
The Italian was solid in goal for the entire campaign and played a major role in helping PSG conquer Europe for the first time ever.
9 – Viktor Gyökeres
When you score 63 goals and register 17 assists in the one season, it does not matter where you play—you have had a legendary season.
If Gyökeres had played in a top five league, he would be a strong candidate to win the Ballon d’Or, especially after helping his club Sporting Lisbon win the league again this season alongside the Portuguese Cup.
8 – Harry Kane
Same old world-class Harry Kane! The Bayern Munich star finally has a club trophy, and he led the charge in bringing the Bundesliga title back to the Allianz Arena after losing it to Bayer Leverkusen last season.
Harry Kane remains one of the best strikers in the world, if not the best, and he deserves to be on this list after netting over 40 goals again this campaign.
7 – Vitinha
Arguably the best midfielder in all of Europe this season. The former Wolves star has become the linchpin of the all-conquering Paris Saint-Germain side.
Vitinha helped PSG win everything this season—from a dominant league campaign to orchestrating PSG’s midfield play against the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal, and eventually Inter Milan in the final.
6 – Pedri
Pedri came just minutes away from having the exact same season Vitinha had at PSG this year. Pedri played a colossal role for Barcelona in midfield this season as they dominated domestically and nearly reached the Champions League final.
5 – Raphinha
Arguably the surprise package of the season in all of Europe. No one expected Raphinha to get over 50 direct goal contributions this season under Hansi Flick, or to be one of the favourites to win the Golden Ball—especially after how his first two years at Barcelona went.
The Brazilian locked in this season and nearly dragged Barcelona to their first UCL final in a decade with 13 goals in the Champions League.
4 – Mohamed Salah
The ever-reliable Mohamed Salah inspired Liverpool to their 20th league title in spectacular fashion.
Many expected this season to be Mohamed Salah’s last in the Premier League and even in Europe, but the Egyptian seized the opportunity to prove doubters wrong by showing he can still deliver at the top level despite his age.
Salah stood out as the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or in the first part of the 2024/25 campaign, but an early exit in the Champions League at the hands of eventual champions PSG has hampered his chances.
3 – Lamine Yamal
Wow! Third-best player in the world at 17—and some would even argue he should be in the top two at least. That’s how spectacular Lamine Yamal has been this season.
He didn’t score a ton of goals, but he entertained the world throughout the campaign. He stepped up in big UCL matches and made experienced defenders look like amateurs down the right wing. Lamine Yamal will appear at the top of lists like this for many years to come if he continues to develop.
2 – Kylian Mbappé
After a shaky start to life at Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappé began silencing doubters towards the end of 2024. Although Real Madrid as a team failed to achieve anything significant this season, Kylian Mbappé still stood tall and helped Real Madrid push Barcelona all the way in La Liga, winning the Pichichi with 31 league goals.
He also single-handedly eliminated Manchester City with a hat-trick at the Bernabéu, and helped Madrid get past Atlético before they lost both legs to Arsenal in the UCL quarter-finals. Still, it was another top individual season for Mbappé.
1 – Ousmane Dembélé
Not a player many would have expected to top this list at the start of the season. However, after Mbappé left PSG, Dembélé stepped up—and he did so in style.
The former Barcelona man helped PSG build a dominant lead in Ligue 1 before carrying his red-hot form into the UCL from the league phase through to the final in Munich. Dembélé’s relentless running and decisiveness that yielded 33 goals and 15 assists helped propel PSG to glory on all fronts this season, and he deserves the number one spot on our top 10 best players list for the 2024/25 season.
Which player do you think deserves to be higher or lower on the list? Which player should be dropped, and who should be included? Let us know what you think.
