#ballon-dor

#ballon-dor

Football crossword, folks? Welcome to the 26th edition of FourFourTwo's Weekend Crossword: for the last six months, we've been providing you with the definitive cryptic puzzle on the beautiful game to keep you sane on a Saturday. So let's get testing that ball knowledge as we dig into teasers and testers, all in the form of your typical paper crossword and remember to sign in to tell us how you scored.

Right now, this is the club to beat in Europe, and the only club that has won every fixture in all competitions this season. A key reason for that is Bayern's star striker Harry Kane, who has already notched a staggering 21 goals and 4 assists in just 15 games this season (WE ARE IN OCTOBER!!), a solid full-season stat for any striker.

"Lamine is a great player as we see, he has capabilities that few possess, and he has a great future, and he can become the best player in the world,"

Manuel Neuer might not be playing for the German national team anymore, but that certainly does not take anything away from his pedigree amongst the world's greatest goalkeepers. There were rumors circulating that the Bayern Munich captain could potentially make a return to Die Mannschaft ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, but the keeper himself has quelled all of that speculation by saying that definitely won't happen.

British football icon and captain of England women's national football team Leah Williamson has seemingly confirmed her relationship with Miss USA 2021 winner, Elle Smith. Leah Williamson was in attendance at the 69th Ballon d'Or ceremony, which marks achievement in football, in Paris on 22 September. The Arsenal player was nominated at the ceremony for the 2025 Ballon d'Or Fémenin, while Arsenal won the Women's Club of the Year accolade.

Nearly 30 years have passed since a German footballer last won the Ballon d'Or, the sport's most prestigious individual prize. In 1996, Matthias Sammer was awarded the trophy on the heels of a European Championship victory for his country and just several months before he would go on to win the Champions League title with his club, Borussia Dortmund. Even before Sammer, German footballers had seen considerable Ballon d'Or success, particularly in the 1970s and early 80s.

The biggest names in soccer were back at Paris' Theatre du Chatelet for the 2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony on Monday. A handful of awards will be handed out, headlined by the men's and women's Ballon d'Or for best player of the 2024-25 season. Other men's and women's accolades include the Kopa Trophy (best young player), Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), Gerd Muller Trophy (top scorer in club/national team) and Johan Cruyff trophy (best coach in club/national team).

It used to be pretty easy to predict who would win the Ballon d'Or. You could just grab a coin, label heads as " Lionel Messi" and tails as " Cristiano Ronaldo," and flip your coin. Ideally it would be a slightly weighted coin in favor of the Messi side, unless it was one of the many years when Real Madrid won the Champions League -- in which case you'd want to reweight or relabel the sides of the coin -- but you get my point.

The names are like a who's who of footballing greats: Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Andres Iniesta, David Beckham... They've all had glittering careers and won countless trophies, but there's something else they all have in common - none of them has won the men's Ballon d'Or. The prestigious annual award has been handed out since 1956 when two French sportswriters wanted to recognise the world's best talent.

Ousmane Dembele played a key role in helping Paris St-Germain win Ligue 1, become European champions for the first time and reach the final of the Club World Cup. He scored 21 goals from 29 games in Ligue 1 to end the campaign as joint-top scorer. He was also named in the division's team of the season and won the player of the year award.

The email came from a creative advertising agency and the proposal was a potential collaboration in which Gardner would be paid if he was willing to act, in secret, as a social media influencer on behalf of Ousmane Dembele, the Paris Saint-Germain forward. We are exploring a one-month campaign designed to spark dialogue and strengthen the narrative around Ousmane Dembele's candidacy for the Ballon d'Or, the email explained.

"The world has been watching. It will make a very big impact in Africa because we have so many good players and they just need the opportunity to show what they can really do. "It lets others know that everything is achievable and everything is possible. This nomination is not just for me, it is for Africa. "It is for every young girl dreaming to become whatever they want to be. They just have to believe in themselves."

The 69th edition of the Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place on September 22 at Paris' Theatre du Chatelet, revealing the best player of the season.