"Deserved the Ballon d'Or for a long time" - Brazil hero Cafu picks 2025 Ballon d'Or winner

Brazil hero Cafu has revealed his pick for the 2025 Ballon d'Or award. The former AC Milan defender has backed Barcelona winger Raphinha to be named the best player in the world amid his incredible run of displays this season.

It is now the most decisive phase of the campaign and the battle for the Ballon d'Or award is heating up. Raphinha has emerged as one of the bookies' favorites to go home with the accolade as he continues to make the difference for Barcelona in their treble chase.

Speaking to Spanish outlet Marca, Cafu boldly reckoned that his compatriot already deserves football's most coveted individual honor because of the numbers he's contributed so far.

"Raphinha has deserved the Ballon d’Or for a long time," he said (via Barca Universal). "This year, even more so, because of all the numbers and everything he has done in the championship, not only in La Liga, but also in the Champions League,” added the legendary right-back.

Cafu definitely has a good point. Raphinha has put in solid numbers for the Ballon d'Or award this season. So far, the attacker has recorded 30 goals and 23 assists to his name in 48 appearances for Barcelona across all competitions.

That includes 15 goals and 11 assists in 30 La Liga games, 12 goals and seven assists in 12 Champions League outings, one goal and four assists in the Copa del Rey, as well as two goals and one assist in the Spanish Super Cup.

More impressively, the Brazilian has been turning up in big games. He bagged a hat-trick against Bayern Munich, a brace against Real Madrid, five goals versus Benfica. Other season-defining performances include the one he put up against Celta Vigo last weekend, where he scored twice including the winner in a hard-fought 4-3 victory.

Highlighting Raphinha's rivals for the 2025 Ballon d'Or award

It is quite interesting that Raphinha's main rivals for the 2025 Ballon d'Or award include three of his own teammates at Barcelona. His partners in crime, Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal, are equally putting up decisive efforts and stacking up incredible numbers this season. The earlier has bagged 40 goals and three assists so far while the latter has recorded 14 goals and 22 assists to his name.

Meanwhile, former Barca winger Ousmane Dembele is also running riot at Paris Saint-Germain with 32 goals 11 assists while Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe is having an incredible season as well with 32 goals and four assists.

Elsewhere, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane are also making a case for themselves with 32 goals and 23 assists and 36 goals and 12 assists respectively. The winner of the 2025 Ballon d'Or will be unveiled by France Football in Paris on October 29.