France captain Kylian Mbappé has publicly thrown his full support behind Ousmane Dembélé in the race for the coveted Ballon d`Or award. Mbappé, a former teammate of Dembélé at Paris Saint-Germain, reiterated his conviction over the weekend that Dembélé is the deserving front-runner for the prestigious individual accolade.
“Does he deserve it? For me, yes,” stated the Les Bleus captain in a recent interview, as reported by Téléfoot via L’Équipe.
Mbappé, himself a recipient of the Golden Shoe last season for being Europe`s top club goalscorer, had previously named Dembélé as the favourite for the Ballon d`Or in June. Dembélé’s outstanding performance last season saw him net eight goals in the UEFA Champions League, a crucial contribution to PSG’s historic first-time triumph in the competition. Domestically, he also scored 21 times in 29 appearances, sharing the title of Ligue 1’s joint top-goalscorer with Mason Greenwood.
Key Details:
- Mbappé`s Stance: Firm belief that Dembélé deserves the Ballon d`Or.
- Dembélé`s Achievements: Instrumental in PSG`s Champions League win with 8 goals, and joint Ligue 1 top scorer with 21 domestic goals.
- Other French Contenders: Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and Desiré Doué are also on the shortlist.
- Announcement: The Ballon d`Or winner will be revealed on September 22 in Paris.
While championing Dembélé, Mbappé also expressed his hopes for another former PSG colleague, Achraf Hakimi, to rank highly in the final Ballon d’Or voting. Dembélé was recently sidelined due to injury during France`s 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Ukraine. In the 2024 Ballon d`Or rankings, Mbappé himself placed fifth, with Manchester City`s Rodri ultimately claiming the award.
This year`s Ballon d`Or shortlist includes four French players: Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and Desiré Doué. The last Frenchman to lift the trophy was Karim Benzema in 2022, during his successful tenure at Real Madrid.
The winner of the Ballon d’Or is set to be announced on September 22 in Paris.
