Mbappé Dismisses Dembele Rift Ahead of Ballon d'Or Showdown

Kylian Mbappé is heading into Ballon d’Or week with a smile on his face and a message he wants heard clearly: there is no feud with Ousmane Dembele. No cold war. No split in the France camp.

“There’s no tension,” he told L’Equipe, addressing the noise around his recent comments about their careers. “He’s a friend. I don’t think there’s really any problem regarding that. I’m very relaxed about it.”

The story had been building ever since Mbappé drew a sharp line between how the two men have been viewed since their teenage years. Dembele, now thriving at Paris Saint‑Germain, has often been tagged as the gifted but fragile winger. Mbappé, the Real Madrid superstar, has carried a different label entirely.

“He has always been seen as a talented player. I, on the other hand, have always been seen as the chosen one,” Mbappé said, laying out the contrast without softening the edges. For some, that sounded like a dig. For him, it was a simple description of how their paths have unfolded.

“I was at the top right away, from a very young age. He had a different journey, with injuries, but he has caught up really well,” he added.

That line – “caught up really well” – is where the rivalry now truly lives. The two men helped drag France to a World Cup semi-final not long ago, combining their pace and flair in a forward line opponents struggled to contain. Off the pitch, they remain close. On it, they are now shoulder to shoulder in the race for the biggest individual prize in the sport.

Ballon d'Or Ceremony

On 26 October in London, Mbappé and Dembele will walk the same red carpet as direct competitors for the Ballon d’Or. This time, they are not just teammates or friends. They are obstacles.

They are not alone in the chase. Barcelona’s teenage phenomenon Lamine Yamal and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane are also in the frame, part of a field that feels far less scripted than in the Messi‑Ronaldo era. The hierarchy is blurred, the outcome genuinely uncertain.

Mbappé, though, is not hiding his belief that the numbers tilt the argument in his favour. Speaking to RFI, he leaned hard on his record over the past 12 months.

“I had a great year on an individual level, I know that’s the most important criterion for the Ballon d’Or, I was the top scorer in all the biggest competitions,” he said. That is his case, stripped down: goals, volume, consistency.

He senses an opening.

“I think it could be a good year for me, I felt it deep down!” he admitted. The race itself seems to amuse him as much as it drives him. “A Ballon d’Or has never been this wide open? That’s what they’re saying, yeah, I don’t know the entire history of the Ballon d’Or. It’s pleasant to see, to take part in it, and I think it entertains people! I’d be disappointed of course if I don’t win it!”

There is no attempt to hide the ego or the ambition. There is also no attempt to pretend he would shrug it off if his name is not read out in London. He wants it. Badly.

All of this plays out against a fresh backdrop with France. The national team has entered a new era: Zinedine Zidane in, Didier Deschamps out, the World Cup cycle closed and a new chapter opening.

For Mbappé, Zidane’s appointment is not just symbolic. It is personal.

“He was the first person who picked me up to take me to Real Madrid, to the training complex. I was 13 or 14, so it was a long time ago. Now he’s my national team coach. It’s like a film, but it’s amazing. It’s real,” he told AS.

The boy who once climbed into Zidane’s car as a wide‑eyed teenager is now the face of his France. Dembele, once the prodigy who couldn’t stay fit, is now one of his closest allies and fiercest rivals.

The ceremony in London will hand out one trophy. The rest of the season, under Zidane’s gaze, will decide who truly owns the stage.