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Ousmane Dembele Breaks Down, Mother Consoles Son After Ballon d'Or Win

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Farah Ben Gamra | Last updated Sep 22, 2025 5:22 PM ET

Ousmane Dembélé was crowned the 2025 Ballon d’Or on Monday in Paris , and he broke down in tears when he thanked his family.

The award was presented at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with Ronaldinho announcing the winner. The ceremony also honoured other prize winners , Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal was the runner-up in the men’s ranking, while Aitana Bonmatí won the women’s Ballon d’Or.

Dembélé’s season has been through a career revival. He finished top scorer in Europe and was central to Paris Saint-Germain’s domestic and continental success , a run that propelled him to the top of the Ballon d’Or vote.

Winning the Champions League, his goals, assists and big match performances were the reasons he won.

Ousmane Dembele’s emotional speech — mother joins him onstage

Dembélé got emotional during his acceptance speech when he thanked those close to him. He became tearful when mentioning his mother sitting in the crowd and she later came on stage to hug him as well.

We could also see his brother in the crowd shedding a few tears during this moment of emotion. Video clips were posted on social media showing the moment.

Dembele and his family were in tears as he thanked them during his speech.

His mom came on stage and gave him a hug pic.twitter.com/Ks4sfjPlM5
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 22, 2025

Reaction was quick on social media and in the stadium. Colleagues, pundits and fans were pointing to Dembélé’s turnaround , from an injury-hit spell in his career with Barcelona to a season where he was a key player for PSG .

The onstage hug between Dembélé and his mother was definitely one of the night’s best moments.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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