When Ousmane Dembele stood on stage on Monday, September 22, 2025, in Paris to lift the 2025 Ballon d’Or, the moment was historic for him, family and his club PSG.
But amid the lights, applause, and cameras, Dembele’s eyes searched the audience for one face, not a teammate, not a coach, but his childhood best friend Moustapha Diatta.
Ousmane and Moustapha grew up like brothers. On the rough pitches of Evreux, they chased the ball until darkness fell, dreaming of greatness.
They both began their football journeys side by side, two boys, one dream. But destiny had different plans.
Dembele shares emotional reaction on social media after winning the 2025 Ballon d’Or
Ousmane soared, signed for Rennes, Dortmund, Barcelona, and PSG. Moustapha didn’t reach the professional heights, his career quietly ending in the shadows. Yet through it all, he never walked away.
While others judged or drifted, Moustapha stood firm, encouraging, supporting, reminding his best friend that the dream was real.
On the biggest night of his life, Dembele’s voice broke with emotion as he dedicated his victory to the one constant:
“For Moustapha, with whom I’ve shared since we were 4–5 years old. He’s always been with me, always had my back. He always told me one day I would be the best in the world. And we will always be together.”
As the words filled the room, Moustapha broke down in tears. Because this Ballon d’Or was not just a football award, it was a tribute to loyalty, to brotherhood, to a promise made in childhood and fulfilled under the bright lights of Paris.
And sitting close by was Fatimata Dembele, Ousmane’s mother, the woman who carried him through the hardest times, who worked multiple jobs to keep his dream alive, who never stopped believing.
When Ousmane ended his speech, she rose from her seat and walked onto the stage.
The audience held its breath as she wrapped her son in a long embrace, a mother’s arms finally resting after years of sacrifice.
In that instant, the picture was complete: Moustapha in tears below the stage, Fatimata holding her son above it.
One a brother in spirit, the other a mother in blood, both part of the journey that turned a boy from Evreux into the best in the world.
FKA/JE
Meanwhile, watch the latest episode of Sports Check on Esports below
