Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has broken his silence after the Netherlands international placed 28th in the 2025 men’s Ballon d’Or vote.
Van Dijk was among the 30 nominees for the award and despite not being among the favourites to win the award, eyebrows have been raised over his position in the final vote.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele took the first place, but his Van Dijk’s placing was questioned by many on social media.
His Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah came in fourth position, despite winning the Premier League Golden Boot award and helping the Reds to lift the Premier League title.
Also, Reds midfielder Alexis Mac Allister placed 22nd, while his new team-mate Florian Wirtz finished in 29th – following an impressive performances for Bayern Leverkusen.
Van Dijk has now respond to the Ballon d’Or vote – with what seems to be a pointed message towards the award’s organisers.
Posting a series of photos of himself at the ceremony in Paris, he captioned the post: “Better luck next time.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool posted twice about the awards on Monday, first acknowledging Salah’s fourth place finishing position in the men’s Ballon d’Or before posting a series of photos celebrating the Egyptian’s season.
Perhaps explaining the feelings of the red half of Merseyside about Salah’s final placing, the post was captioned: “A season to savour for Salah.”
The wait for an active Liverpool player to win the Ballon d’Or will stretch to 25 years as a result of Monday’s results.
Michael Owen became the youngest player to win the award when he scooped it in 2001, with Van Dijk’s second place finish in 2019 the closest any Reds star has come to doing likewise since then.
