Mbappe: 'No tensions' with Dembele after Ballon d'Or 'chosen one' row
Mbappe moves to cool Ballon d'Or back-and-forth ahead of Nations League
Kylian Mbappe has insisted there are "no tensions" between himself and France team-mate Ousmane Dembele, after recent comments he made about the PSG forward's Ballon d'Or triumph sparked a minor media storm.
Dembele was crowned the best player in the world for 2024-25 after helping Paris Saint-Germain win the first of their back-to-back Champions League titles. He became the sixth different French player to lift the award, giving France the highest number of unique winners from any single country, and the first since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.
Mbappe, meanwhile, has never won the prize during his glittering career, with a third-place finish in 2023 the highest he has ever placed in the voting. Asked last week whether he ever thought Dembele would win the Ballon d'Or before him, Mbappe said: "He 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."
Those remarks drew a pointed response from Dembele, who said: "I was never the chosen one, but I worked hard and last year, I was rewarded with a fantastic year with PSG." Some in the French media suggested the exchange may not have gone down well with the PSG forward.
But with both players reporting for their first France camp under new coach Zidane, with Turkiye their opponents in Friday's Nations League opener, Mbappe insists the matter is closed. Speaking to L'Equipe, he said: "I've already spoken about it with him and no, there are no tensions. He's a friend. I don't think there's really a problem with that. I'm really very calm.
"In the period of the Nations League and the French camps, you always have to find a debate, and I think this is one you have found."
Mbappe remains one of the leading contenders to win this year's prize, despite failing to land any silverware at club or international level in 2025-26. He enjoyed a historic World Cup campaign, even as France finished fourth, breaking the record for most goal involvements at a single edition (14 - 10 goals and four assists) and becoming the competition's all-time leading scorer with 22 goals.
However, Mbappe's tally of 50 goals for Real Madrid in all competitions last season (excluding the Club World Cup) was dwarfed by Harry Kane's 65 for Bayern Munich, with the England captain widely viewed as the frontrunner for the prize.