Ousmane Dembélé

Masour Ousmane Dembélé was born on 15 May 1997 in Vernon, Eure. His mother is Mauritanian-Senegalese from Waly Diantang, while his father is Malian. He took his first footballing steps in nearby Évreux, first at ALM Évreux and then at Évreux FC 27 between the ages of 12 and 13.

Rennes

Dembélé made his senior debut for Rennes' reserve side in the Championnat de France Amateur, on 6 September 2014, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for Zana Allée. He effectively set up Alseny Kourouma for the second goal of a 2–0 home win over the reserves of Breton rivals Guingamp. On 9 November, he scored his first career goal, again coming off the bench in a game at the Stade de la Piverdière, this time against the reserves of Laval. He totalled 13 goals in 18 games in his first season, including a hat-trick on 16 May 2015 in a 6–1 win over Hérouville. On 6 November 2015, Dembélé made his professional debut for Rennes' first team in Ligue 1 against Angers, replacing Kamil Grosicki for the last five minutes of the game. On 22 November, he scored his first Ligue 1 goal for the first team against Bordeaux, opening a 2–2 draw at Roazhon Park. On 9 January 2016, Dembélé found the net again for Rennes, as they came from 0–2 down to draw 2–2 against regional rivals Lorient at home. On 6 March, he scored his first Ligue 1 hat-trick in a 4–1 victory over Nantes in the Derby Breton. On 18 March, he scored his tenth goal of the season in a 5–2 win against Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome. He ended his debut season with twelve goals from 29 matches, after scoring twice in a 3–1 win against Stade Reims on 2 April. Rennes' sporting director Mikaël Silvestre compared Dembélé to Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he had seen arrive at Manchester United around the same…

Dembélé was called up to the senior France squad for the first time in August 2016 to face Italy and Belarus in friendlies after Alexandre Lacazette and Nabil Fekir withdrew through injury. He made his debut on 1 September against the former at the Stadio San Nicola, replacing Antoine Griezmann for the final 27 minutes of a 3–1 win. On 13 June 2017, Dembélé scored his first goal for France in a 3–2 friendly victory against England. On 17 May 2018, Dembélé was named in the 23-man French squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He featured in four matches during the tournament, including all group stage matches and appearing as a late substitute in the quarter-final against Uruguay. On 15 July, he was an unused substitute as France beat Croatia 4–2 in the final. On 18 May 2021, Dembélé was selected in the French squad for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020. In the second group stage match against Hungary, he sustained a rupture of the right hamstring tendon at the knee level which ruled him out for the remainder of the tournament. Dembélé was called up to the French squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he played all games as France finished the tournament as runner-ups. Dembélé started the final but conceded a penalty in the first half and was substituted in the 41st minute. On 18 November 2023, Dembélé scored a goal in a 14–0 win over Gibraltar during the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying, which was the largest win in the history of the France national team. At the final…

Dembele is a practising Muslim and fasts during Ramadan while playing matches. He married a Moroccan woman in a traditional Moroccan ceremony in France in December 2021. They have a daughter, born September 2022. Dembélé's fatherhood has been credited with him settling down, as he was previously one of Barcelona's most-fined players due to disciplinary issues. In July 2021, video footage of Dembélé along with teammate Antoine Griezmann circulated online, in which he was seen making racial comments against the Japanese technicians in their hotel room. As the technicians appeared to be troubleshooting the room's television, Dembélé made comments towards Griezmann in French, stating "All these ugly faces, just so you can play PES, aren't you ashamed?", continuing with "What the fuckin language?" before zooming in on one of the technicians' faces while laughing, mentioning "Are you technologically advanced in your country or not?".