Portugal's Rising Stars Earn Surprise Spots on 2025 Ballon d'Or List

A trio of Portuguese talents is suddenly rewriting the script of world football. Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and João Neves—all still in their early or mid-20s—have cracked the 30-man shortlist for the 2025 Ballon d’Or, an honour historically dominated by older superstars. Their inclusion, announced on 7 August, signals a generational changing of the guard just as Paris Saint-Germain complete a season for the ages.

Why this nomination wave matters to Portugal-based foreigners

Even if you live in Lisbon rather than Lyon, the Ballon d’Or shortlist has real local resonance. Portugal’s football identity, from cafés that screen late-night matches to the child in a Cristiano Ronaldo shirt dribbling along the street, shapes everyday life. The fact that three Portuguese internationals—plus Sporting striker Viktor Gyökeres, nominated while playing in the Primeira Liga—are contenders connects dinner-table conversation in Porto with the red carpet at Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet on 22 September. For expats still adjusting to Portugal’s football-centric social calendar, these nominations provide a crash course in how global acclaim and domestic pride often intersect here.

The Portuguese core powering PSG’s historic treble

Paris Saint-Germain’s first-ever Champions League crown last season was built on an astonishing Portuguese spine. Vitinha, now 25, orchestrated midfield tempo over 59 appearances; left-back Nuno Mendes offered relentless width and defensive security; and João Neves, only 20, matured into a box-to-box force, registering 7 goals and 10 assists. Their efforts helped PSG sweep a continental treble—league, cup and Europe—leading to a record nine PSG players on this year’s Ballon d’Or list. In Parisian dressing-room interviews, teammates often praise the trio’s sangue lusitano work ethic, something Portuguese fans back home relish.

Portugal’s Ballon d’Or lineage: from Figo to a new generation

Historically, Luís Figo (winner in 2000) and Cristiano Ronaldo (five-time recipient) have monopolised Portuguese glory on this stage. Between 2000 and 2023, only 10 Portuguese players even earned nominations, and most years Ronaldo’s presence overshadowed all. Now, with Ronaldo absent and Bernardo Silva or Rúben Dias no longer the sole standard-bearers, attention has shifted to up-and-coming profiles such as Vitinha and Neves. Statisticians note that 2025 marks the first shortlist featuring three Portuguese teammates from the same foreign club—a sign of both Portugal’s robust youth development pipeline and PSG’s Lusophone recruitment strategy.

What this could mean for the Seleção and domestic scouting

For national-team coach Roberto Martínez, having Champions League-hardened regulars in midfield and defence is a luxury previous managers rarely enjoyed simultaneously. Scouts across the Primeira Liga see the trio’s rise as validation of Portugal’s academy model; conversations inside Benfica’s Seixal, Sporting’s Alcochete and Porto’s Olival training centres already revolve around ‘the next Neves.’ If one of the three lifts the trophy, it would end Portugal’s seven-year drought since Ronaldo’s last win in 2017 and strengthen the argument for keeping promising youngsters in domestic systems a little longer before the inevitable move abroad.

How to watch the ceremony from Portugal

The awards gala begins at 18:00 WET on 22 September. In Lisbon, public broadcaster RTP3 will carry live coverage, while many sports bars—from Cais do Sodré to Foz do Douro—plan viewing parties. Streaming options include L’Équipe’s international feed and the France Football YouTube channel, although geoblocking may apply; a reliable VPN can solve that. With the time difference to Paris being zero in late September, your only logistical hurdle might be securing a table big enough for your multinational friend group—and perhaps learning the lyrics to “A Portuguesa” in case one of these young stars brings the golden ball home.