Ousmane Dembélé lifted the Ballon d'Or on Monday evening in Paris, overjoying the PSG fans that celebrated in the streets of Paris (despite that, one hour earlier, PSG lost to Marseille in le Classique and lost the leadership in Ligue 1. Dembélé was the favourite, but many people thought that Lamine Yamal could take the win.
The Barcelona teenager finished second. His father said "something strange had happened" because he should have been the winner, as the best football player in the world (others don't even consider him the best player in the club). However, the votes apparently weren't as tight as some would think.
After the Ballon d'Or, L'Équipe publishes a comprehensive list of all votes from all 100 members of the jury (one journalist per country). That won't be published until October, but according to Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of L'Équipe, Dembélé's victory was clear (via RMC Sport).
"If I have to give you a hint, there was no contest, honestly. Ousmane won by a wide margin. He largely won the support of our Ballon d'Or judges. He's a Ballon d'Or winner who, a priori, is an authority among our judges."
"Vitinha picked up a few first-place finishes, as did Achraf Hakimi, but not many" added Garcia. "Ousmane Dembélé won the vote by a wide margin on every continent, whether in Africa, Europe, South America, or North America. A clear and unmistakable Ballon d'Or."
Last year, Rodri beat Vinícius Jr. by only 41 points (Rodri had 1170, Vini 1129).