Inter Miami star Lionel Messi has congratulated Ousmane Dembele on his 2025 Ballon d’Or triumph, after the French winger edged out Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal to claim the prestigious award.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner celebrated his former Barcelona teammate on social media, leaving a message under Dembele’s Instagram post showing the 28-year-old lifting the Golden Ball on Monday night.

Dembele scored 35 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain last term, helping the French club win their first-ever Champions League trophy, as well as Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France.

He succeeded Manchester City midfielder Rodri as the winner last night and became the sixth Frenchman to win the Ballon d’Or after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema.

According to GIVEMESPORT, Messi congratulated Dembele on his Ballon d’Or win last night, taking to social media to comment: “Grande Ous. Congratulations, I am so happy for you. You deserve it,” beneath the Frenchman’s Instagram post.

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Dembele thanked Messi personally during his Ballon d’Or acceptance speech, saying he “learned so much from him” during their time together at Barcelona.

Messi and Dembele were teammates at Barcelona for four seasons, following the Frenchman’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 in a reported £135.5m deal.

Dembele played alongside Messi in 95 games during his time at the Catalan club and lifted the La Liga title twice in 2018 and 2019, as well as the Copa del Rey in 2018.