Karl Toko-Ekambi, the 30-year-old Saudi Arabia striker, recently took a stand in the Ballon d’Or 2025 debate. In a video broadcast by YouTube channel Ange Gr, he firmly asserted that there is no reason to divide the votes between Kylian Mbappé (26-year-old striker for Real Madrid and the French national team) and Ousmane Dembélé (28-year-old striker for Paris Saint-Germain and Les Bleus), believing that the latter fully deserves the award. His intervention rekindled the discussion around the French contenders for this prestigious trophy, while Lamine Yamal (17-year-old striker for Barcelona and Spain) is a contender.
Toko-Ekambi “it bothers the French that Dembélé wins the Ballon d’Or before Mbappé.”
“Lamine Yamal is Spanish, and Spaniards always stand behind their player, they put you right at the top. À 100%. In France, all we do is criticize our players. We should all be behind Ousmane Dembélé, but we spend our time finding fault with him.
If there’s a debate between Lamine Yamal and Dembélé for the Ballon d’Or, it’s because we in France aren’t all behind Dembélé. Do you think that in Spain, if Dembélé does well this season, there will be a debate? If we had Messi or Cristiano instead of Dembélé, there wouldn’t be any debate. I even think, in my opinion, that it bothers the French that Dembélé wins the Ballon d’Or before Mbappé.”
Ousmane Dembélé ticks all the boxes for the Ballon d’Or 2025 thanks to an exceptional individual season – top scorer in Ligue 1 with 21 goals in 29 games and 33 goals in all competitions – combined with major collective success with Paris Saint-Germain, crowned European champions. His offensive and defensive influence and his key role in the team make him the undisputed favorite this year.
But debates are necessary, so they continue. You could even say they’re pointless, because we’re not voting and the game isn’t being played yet. There’s still the Club World Cup. Sometimes we’d also like to concentrate on collective titles, to be savoured to the full. Particularly the Champions League.
Even so, Toko-Ekambi’s annoyance is understandable. In France, Dembélé could do with a bit more support. However, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. For example, militating in favor of Vitinha (PSG’s 25-year-old midfielder) or Achraf Hakimi (26-year-old right-back) doesn’t seem aberrant. Perhaps some people in soccer are embarrassed about Mbappé, but the former Lyon man may be going a little too far on this point.
