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Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele marked their returns to the Paris Saint-Germain starting XI by securing a 2-1 win over Paris FC on Sunday as the French capital enjoyed its first top-flight derby since 1990. Victory for Luis Enrique’s second-placed PSG, thanks to goals either side of half-time by Doue and Dembele, took them back to within one point of surprise league leaders Lens. “I think it was Ousmane’s best game (of the season) tonight, he’s back to his best,” Luis Enrique said of his star attacker who has endured an injury-plagued campaign. The last time PSG lost at home to a newly-promoted side was in May 2010 when they went down 3-1 to Montpellier. But there were few chances of that streak being broken in the first top-division Paris derby since February 25, 1990, when Racing Paris 1 beat PSG 2-1 at the Parc des Princes home that they shared. None of the starters on either side at the Parc on Sunday were born when that match took place, and both clubs are a world away from where they were nearly 36 years ago. PSG, backed by Qatar since 2011, have won 12 of their 13 French domestic crowns since then, as well as the Champions League last season. If they are the top dogs in the City of Light, PFC’s solid showing firmly cemented their place as the second strongest side in Paris after they were invested in by the Arnault family - owners of LVMH - last season and promptly won promotion to Ligue 1. Dominant PSG thought they had a penalty midway through the opening period when Doue burst into the box and was felled by Otavio but a VAR review adjudged the initial contact to have been outside the box. But the 20-year-old left nothing up to VAR the next time he found himself driving into the PFC area as he perfectly timed his run onto Fabian Ruiz’s pass on 45 minutes and hammered the ball past Kevin Trapp. The second period started in chaotic fashion as Illya Zabarnyi upended Alimami Gory in the box and Willem Geubbels levelled for the visitors on 51 minutes. Parity lasted only two minutes, however, as Ballon d’Or holder Dembele cut in and struck a left-footed effort, which took a huge deflection on its way past a helpless Trapp. PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier was called into action on a couple of occasions in the remainder of the match, but the reigning champions were able to keep PFC at arm’s length to win a long-awaited encounter. “I hope to play many more Parisian derbies. We like having Paris FC in Ligue 1,” Luis Enrique added. 

Paris St Germain and France forward Ousmane Dembele was named FIFA men's player of the year in Doha on Tuesday with Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati winning the women's award for the third year in a row.Dembele was instrumental in PSG's first Champions League triumph when they beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the final and scored 35 goals last season across all competitions, including 21 in Ligue 1 to finish as top scorer.The 28-year-old, who won this year's Ballon d'Or in September, was part of the PSG team which also swept all before them on the domestic front last season and reached the final of the Club World Cup.**media[394351]**Bonmati, the Champions League player of the season, also won the women's Ballon d'Or for the third time in a row this year, and helped Barcelona win the domestic treble along with reaching the Champions League final.The 27-year-old also reached the Euro 2025 final with Spain, losing the decider to England on penalties, and Bonmati was named Player of the Tournament.Sarina Wiegman won the best women's coach award for the fifth time after leading England to retain their European Championship title, and Luis Enrique won the men's coach award after taking Paris St Germain to their first Champions League win.The best women's goalkeeper award went to England and Chelsea's Hannah Hampton who played a major role in the Lionesses' Euro 2025 win with her penalty shootout saves and also won the domestic treble with her club.Italy's Gianluigi Donnarumma, who now plays for Manchester City, won the men's keeper award for his role in Paris St Germain's treble win.Mexico's Lizbeth Ovalle won the FIFA Marta Award, for the best goal in women's football, for her scorpion kick for Tigres against Guadalajara in March.Santiago Montiel won the Puskas Award for the best men's goal for his overhead strike for Independiente against Independiente Rivadavia during an Argentine Primera match in May.

France and Paris Saint-Germain attacker Ousmane Dembele won the men's FIFA Best award at a ceremony in Qatar Tuesday, while Barcelona midfield maestro Aitana Bonmati collected the women's prize.Dembele, 28, won the Ballon d'Or in September, rewarding an exceptional season with PSG, which included the Ligue 1 club's first Champions League title."I wanted to thank my teammates. Hard work pays off, it's been a fantastic year for me, both individually and collectively," said Dembele after the ceremony.PSG's Spanish coach Luis Enrique was named best coach of a men's team.Bonmati, 27, was crowned women's player of the year for the third time in a row, after also picking up her third consecutive Ballon d'Or in the autumn."I am grateful to have the honour," she said.**media[394469]**She is currently out of action after fracturing her leg in training on the eve of Spain's successful Nations League final second leg win over Germany.England manager Sarina Wiegman picked up the award for coaching a women's side after she won a third consecutive Euros title in the summer.In the goalkeeping category, Italy's Gianluigi Donnarumma, who joined Manchester City after winning the Champions League with PSG, picked up the men's award, while Chelsea's Euro 2025 winner Hannah Hampton won the trophy in the women's category.Santiago Montiel won the coveted Puskas award for best goal of the year.Lizbeth Ovalle's scorpion kick for Tigres against Guadalajara in a Mexican league match won the Marta award.FIFA President Gianni Infantino thanked the Qatar Football Association (QFA) in appreciation of its efforts in hosting the FIFA Standing Committees, in the presence of representatives from international football federations. Infantino honoured QFA President Jassim bin Rashid Al Buainain on the sidelines of the FIFA Standing Committees meeting held in Doha Tuesday. The FIFA’s Standing Committees meetings featured a distinguished Qatari presence alongside officials from international football federations during one of FIFA’s most important annual gatherings.

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal will be driven to greater heights after being beaten to the Ballon d'Or by Ousmane Dembele, the club's coach Hansi Flick said.The 18-year-old winger finished second behind Paris Saint-Germain attacker Dembele at the glitzy gala in Paris on Monday in the battle to be crowned the world's best player, but won the Kopa Trophy for best young player. "I spoke with him yesterday, and I think he sees it (in the) right (way), so it's for him also motivation for the next years," Flick told a news conference."Dembele, he deserved it also, it's a vote and a lot of things can happen and I think he accepted this in a good way, and he's motivated to show it this season. Maybe next season he also will be an option for the Ballon d'Or, but I really appreciate that a lot of players from our team are in this situation, and it's great for our team. It shows a lot how your last season was, and this is also our goal for this season."Yamal starred as Barcelona won a domestic treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. The winger is set to miss Thursday's clash at Real Oviedo with a groin issue as the champions try to keep pace with La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who beat Levante on Tuesday to move five points clear of Barca.Last season the Catalans struggled in games without the teenager but they thrashed Valencia and Getafe without him in their previous two games. "I'm really happy, I never think about which player we are missing, I only focus on the team we have," said Flick. "Which players are the options for being in the starting XI... I'm happy with my team. It makes no difference, every starting XI can win matches. It's not a big problem."Midfielder Gavi is out for the next four to five months after undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday. The 21-year-old missed nearly a year after a knee ligament tear in November 2023. "We have to take care of him, we have to go step by step, because he is 21 years old and he has a huge career in the next 10 to 15 years," said Flick."He's a player with a big, big heart, he's a player with a lot of emotion, he's a player who lives... I wouldn't say dies, for this club, but he's like this and I'm really happy to have him on my team. Of course we are waiting until he's back, it's not easy for this team, because he has a huge quality for us, but every one of us will support him, will help him to reach his level again, and this is our goal now for him."

Paris St Germain's France international Ousmane Dembele said winning the Ballon d’Or was never a personal goal but admitted he could not hold back tears when he spoke about his family after being named the world’s best player on Monday.The forward became the first Frenchman since Karim Benzema in 2022 to lift the prize after helping PSG claim their maiden Champions League crown last season. "I didn’t want to cry, but as soon as I started talking about my family, about the people who have been there for me, it came up and I couldn’t hold it back,” Dembele said after beating Barcelona and Spain forward Lamine Yamal to the prize.The 28-year-old added that while he never set out to target individual honours, the award was a special moment. "It was never a personal objective. On an individual level, having a trophy like this is magnificent. But when it happens, of course, you’re happy, you’re delighted.”Asked whether the accolade was the "people’s Ballon d’Or”, a description once used by Benzema, Dembele replied: "Benzema is the people’s Ballon d’Or, the first one, and I am the second.”Dembele insisted the award also belonged to his club. "Yes, of course, it’s for the team. For all the people who are fans of me, all the Parisian supporters, the whole club, the staff and the players,” he said. Recovering from an injury that has sidelined him in recent weeks, the striker said: "It’s better, I’ll be back soon.”One moment defined PSG's first Champions League triumph amidst the noise of Munich’s Allianz Arena, – Dembele's eyes fixed on Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer. The French forward’s stare was more than intimidation, it was the symbol of a player transformed.That image, Dembele glaring at Sommer before another hurried clearance, summed up the determination that helped produce a 5-0 rout and delivered PSG’s long-awaited European triumph. It followed an individual campaign by Dembele that put helped him pick up the coveted award at a ceremony in Paris on Monday.Since his 2023 arrival from Barcelona, Dembele has been reimagined under Luis Enrique, evolving from a mercurial winger into a complete forward. The Spanish coach gradually pushed the Frenchman into central positions and gave him licence to roam. "The coach gives me a lot of freedom on the pitch,” Dembele said. "I’m not forced to remain at the point of the attack like a number nine. I just try to create space and to cause a bit of chaos in midfield.”Enrique’s assessment was emphatic after Dembele struck back-to-back hat-tricks last season. "Ousmane can become the player he wants to be,” he said. "If he remains confident in front of goal, he has no equal. He can score in any position, even with his head. He’s a phenomenal player.”That freedom has translated into the most productive campaign of Dembele's career. He finished the 2024-25 season with 35 goals and 14 assists in 53 appearances across all competitions with the capital club, including 21 Ligue 1 goals to finish top scorer. He provided two assists in the Champions League final alone.Beyond goals, his defensive work has been a hallmark. In Munich, Dembele produced more sprints than any other PSG player, according to UEFA’s performance data, leading the press that unsettled Inter’s back line from the opening whistle.For Enrique, those runs mattered as much as the goals. "I sincerely believe he deserves the Ballon d’Or,” the coach said. "Not just for the titles he won or the goals he scored, but for his pressing ... He’s done it all season, but exceptionally in this (Champions League) final.”Dembele’s ball-carrying and delicate turns have long been a trademark, his two-footed dribbling leaving defenders disoriented. But the 2025 version added ruthlessness in front of goal and a willingness to set the tone without the ball. "There is a consistency that makes the team better,” Enrique said in February. "He was already good last season but in 2025 he is even better. You can see his teammates looking for him and finding him. He has an impeccable attitude.”Such words mark a stark change from the perception of Dembele two years ago, when injuries and inconsistency meant his potential often seemed only partly fulfilled. At PSG, he has become not only decisive but reliable.France has produced Ballon d’Or winners before - Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema in 2022. For much of the last decade the assumption was that Kylian Mbappe would be next. Yet as PSG closed their season of domestic dominance and European conquest, the conversation shifted. "I’d give the Ballon d’Or to Mr Ousmane Dembele,” Enrique said after the final. "The way he defended (against Inter)... only that can be worth the Ballon d’Or. This is how you lead a team.”Last season has redrawn Dembele’s legacy. His dribbling still dazzles, but now it is joined by goals, assists and an appetite for pressing that even his coach calls exemplary. The stare at Sommer in Munich captured it all: a player once labelled fragile now the embodiment of PSG’s ferocity. From unfulfilled promise to fully realised talent, Dembele has become the symbol of a team - and France’s latest Ballon d’Or winner.

France forward Ousmane Dembele on Monday won the men's Ballon d'Or, the most prestigious individual prize in football, rewarding his starring role in the Paris Saint-Germain side that lifted the Champions League trophy last season.Dembele, 28, pipped Barcelona and Spain teenage sensation Lamine Yamal to the prize at a ceremony in Paris and succeeds Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri, who won the trophy in 2024. The former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona winger, who was part of the France team that won the World Cup in 2018, scored 35 goals in all competitions as PSG won a French league and cup double as well as the Champions League for the first time in their history."I really don't have the words. It was an incredible season with PSG," said an emotional Dembele, who said his club coach Luis Enrique had been "like a father". "It is an individual trophy but it was really the collective that won it," added Dembele, who was one of nine members of the triumphant PSG team from last season nominated for the prize. "The Ballon d'Or has not really been an objective for me in my career but I worked hard for the team to win the Champions League."The 18-year-old Yamal, who was a teammate of Dembele's at Barcelona when he first broke through in 2023, earlier won the Kopa Trophy for the best player aged under 21 - the second year running he has taken that award.Luis Enrique and Sarina Wiegman landed the top coaching accolades following their sensational seasons in charge of Paris St-Germain and England’s Lionesses. Enrique achieved the remarkable Treble with a European club for the second time in his career, previously doing so with Barcelona in the 2014-15 season. He joins Pep Guardiola, who has also done this twice. And Wiegman became the first manager in either the men's or women's game to lead a team to five consecutive major international tournament finals: two with Netherlands, three with England.Enrique said in a statement: "Thank you to my family, thank you to PSG. I also want to thank two special people: Nasser Al-Khelaifi (PSG chairman) and Luís Campos (PSG sporting director). We have a special relationship. A message to my players who are there: it’s nice to win individual awards but I think the most important thing is the recognition of the fans."Spain's Bonmati wins Women's Ballon d'OrBarcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati won the Women's Ballon d'Or, the third consecutive year she has taken the prize. Bonmati edged out Mariona Caldentey, her teammate in the Spain side beaten on penalties by England in the Women's Euro 2025 final in July.The 27-year-old midfielder also lost the Women's Champions League final with her club last season, at the hands of Caldentey's Arsenal. Bonmati was named player of the tournament at the Euros, despite not starting either of Spain's first two matches as she recovered from a bout of viral meningitis.Alessia Russo, one of the nominees from the triumphant England European Championship team, came in third place. The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual prize in both men's and women's football, and Bonmati's run of three in a row follows back-to-back victories for her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas. Norway's Ada Hegerberg and USA star Megan Rapinoe are the only other players to have won the Women's Ballon d'Or since it was introduced in 2018.