Did Ballon D'or Lead To Mbappe-Dembele Fallout? | First Sports With Rupha Ramani

0:00 When two of the best players on the planet share a pitch, magic happens. And Kian Mbappe and Usman Dembele, the pair has given us those magical moments. We saw it at the 2026 FIFA World Cup when the two forwards carried France deep [music] into the tournament and the two in fact have been close friends since they were 14. They've shared dressing rooms for years, but now they're not reportedly seeing eye to eye. A bitter exchange over the Balandor seems to have created a bit of a dent on that friendship and the French dressing room is probably dealing with that simmering tension, leaving the new France manager and one of France's all-time great Zinedine Zidan with a headache he didn't want. So, how did a friendship turn into

0:47 this? And more importantly, can Zizu keep Mbappé and Dembele on the same side? Mbappe and Dembele have known each other for years. They were part of France's 2018 World Cup winning squad. They reached another World Cup final together in 2022. And then in 2023, they became teammates at PSG. They've had a friendship. They've played together and they had publicly praised each other's abilities. But individual awards have a way of changing that conversation. That's where the Balandor has become a critical point in the Mbappé Dembele equation. Dembele won the prize in 2025. This time for the 2526 season. He was again a frontline runner because Dembele had helped PSG win another Champions League. Mbappé had another prolific

1:33 season at Real Madrid. But it was Mbappé's comments about Dembele that really seems to have sparked off something. During a September interview with Leip, Mbappé was asked about how people once expected him to win the balandor before Dembele. His response was interesting. Dembele has always been seen as a talented player. I on the other hand have always been seen as the chosen one. 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. Now on the face of it, that doesn't sound like an insult. And in some ways, Mbappé was acknowledging Dembele's journey too. But look closer. Mbappé has been carrying the label of the next

2:19 great French footballer since he was a teenager. He won the World Cup at 19, became a superstar at PSG and then moved to Real Madrid. So, expectations have naturally followed him throughout every stage of his career. Denbele's journey has been different. He was always talented, but there were injuries. Then came the biggest recognition of his career, the 2025 Ballendor. And perhaps that has been playing in Mbappé's mind all along. The accolades that he was earmarked again hasn't really arrived yet. The World Cup though, it's all none of it. Both shared great camaraderie on the pitch. Mbappé scored 10. Dembele netted six times as France finished third.

3:14 In fact, the two created 19 chances for each other in the tournament, the most by any French duo in the last 60 years. But beyond the bright lights of the tournament, of course, the vibe in the French camp began to shift. Reports have now surfaced that an attempt by Mbappé to clear the air with a WhatsApp message went unanswered by Dembele and the squad of course gathered for international duty 2 days ago. The atmosphere seemed very frigid, slightly colder, and recently Usman Dembele officially withdrew from the November squad. So any face-to-face resolution will simply have [music] to wait. Now, inside the French dressing room, the discomfort is real. Some teammates have reportedly viewed Mbappé's recent efforts to try and

4:00 engage with the squad a bit forced. Of course, he's got the China backlash, too, weighing him down, and that's the hard truth of elite football. Tension at the top is bound to send ripples across the entire room, especially when it's with someone who's a superstar there. And that brings us to the hardest part of Mbappé's career right now. There is a massive gap between being the team's best player and being a true leader. Wearing the armband does not automatically buy you loyalty [music] in that dressing room. And that's how modern football is today. And that's why the coming weeks will show us Mbappé's true character as a leader. And what helps is we've got someone like Zinedine Zidane. He's there for Mbappe to lean on. Azidan took over as France coach after the 2026 World Cup. Yes, he has

4:46 inherited world-class talent pool, but he also has massive egos to take care of. Now, managing Galacticos is nothing new for Zidane from his Real Madrid days and that experience will matter now because Mbappe and Dembele were not are not just two good players. They are two of the biggest faces in French football and Zidane will need both of them. Now, club football may give you just may give you many days to build a culture. And let's not forget where Mbappe and Dembele play every weekend, Real Madrid and PSG, the two biggest rivals in European club football, constantly battling for the same Champions League trophies and the same global spotlight. So, the fierce competition is what they will live to fight at club level. But

5:33 international football unfortunately gives you just a handful over months and that is what Zidane has to now protect and maybe that is the biggest takeaway from this whole situation. Mbappe and Dembele don't have to be best friends. They don't have to agree on who deserved the ballor and they certainly don't have to put aside their own personal ambitions but they do have to find a way to play together because France has two of the most gifted attacking players of this generation and their individual desires shouldn't become a strength for France. It should be a strength for France and not a problem that the team has to carry. [music] >> Hi, my name is Josh Barnes. I am the international foodie. [music]

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