Inside France’s Ballon d’Or Storm: Mbappé and Dembélé's WhatsApp Pact
What started as a debate over the Ballon d’Or almost turned into a full-blown headache for France. A few pointed sentences. A hint of resentment. And suddenly, the national team’s calm was under scrutiny.
At the heart of it: Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé. Two friends, two stars, one sensitive topic.
Words that lit the fuse
Mbappé’s initial remarks, dissected and replayed across France, drew a clear line between his career path and Dembélé’s. He underlined that he had long been seen as the one “destined” to shine, while Dembélé, he suggested, needed more time because of injuries and the difficult circumstances that slowed his rise.
The subtext stung. Dembélé heard it. So did the dressing room.
The Paris Saint-Germain winger responded in his own way, without raising his voice but making his point unmistakably clear. His career, he stressed, had been anything but smooth. He spoke of hard work, of years spent grinding his way back to the top, of never being “the chosen player”.
He insisted he had earned his reward last season off the back of an exceptional year with PSG, not because anyone had handed him anything.
“As for this year, we will see,” he said. “There is no pressure, and I am at ease.”
The line sounded calm. The reaction was anything but. Those words, placed next to Mbappé’s earlier comments, were enough to fuel talk of a rift between two players who have shared a strong bond for years.
Mbappé moves to defuse the row
Inside the France camp, the story began to grow. According to French outlet Foot Mercato, citing Le Parisien, Mbappé quickly understood that his initial comments had not landed well with Dembélé.
He did not wait for the situation to fester.
The Real Madrid forward picked up the phone, reached out directly, and sought to clarify what he meant. No cameras, no microphones, just a conversation between two teammates who know each other too well to let a media storm define them.
Publicly, Mbappé then tried to shut the door on the idea of a crisis.
“I have already spoken to him about this matter, and there is no tension,” he said. “I don’t think there are any real problems concerning it. I am completely calm.”
The message was clear: this would not turn into a fracture in the squad.
Thuram steps in as quiet mediator
Behind the scenes, a third man played a key role. Marcus Thuram, often a stabilising presence in the dressing room, helped ease the tension and guide both players back onto common ground.
Le Parisien reported that Thuram acted as a mediator via a WhatsApp group including Mbappé, Dembélé and himself. No grand summit meeting, no dramatic showdown. Just modern footballers solving a modern problem in a modern way: messages, explanations, and a bit of humour to cut through the noise.
The result? An amicable settlement, as described by the French press. Both players agreed they would not allow a Ballon d’Or discussion to seep into the national team’s atmosphere.
Chapter closed – for now
Inside the France camp, the issue ended as quickly as it escalated. No rupture, no lasting fallout. Just a reminder of how thin the line can be between praise, comparison and perceived disrespect at the very top level.
Mbappé and Dembélé have closed this particular chapter, at least for now. The focus returns to the pitch, to France, to the next game – and the Ballon d’Or battle that sparked all this moves back to where it belongs: outside the dressing room, in the court of public opinion.
