Ousmane Dembélé and Ninho On Their Biggest Victories, Defeats and Sources of Inspiration: They Saw Me When I Had Nothing

This story is part of Billboard’s Global World Cup Series, a collection of 11 cover stories which pairs top soccer stars across the world competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup with highly-touted musicians in accompanying countries.

In 2025, Ousmane Dembélé and Ninho fulfilled their dreams.

One became a Ballon d’Or winner — a prize handed out to the consensus best football player in the world — without ever having been nominated for the trophy before. The other, who was already the artist with the most singles certifications in French music history, according to French recording industry trade group SNEP, sold out the Stade de France, the country’s largest venue — twice.

Yet few would have bet on either of them in the beginning. For the past 10 years, the two adidas ambassadors have been in a league of their own.

Because they never stopped believing in their destiny, Billboard France brought Ousmane Dembélé and Ninho together, virtuosos in their respective fields with similar trajectories. On June 16, Dembélé will begin to chase a second star with France, starting the country’s journey toward the World Cup; Ninho, meanwhile, is already back in the studio, working on his next album. The cycle continues.

Billboard France: Do you remember your very first steps in your respective fields?

Ninho: Yeah, absolutely. In my first freestyle, I was describing what we saw around us. There wasn’t much life experience yet, but I drew from what we saw, what we listened to as well. It feels good to look back on that.

Ousmane Dembélé: I don’t really remember my first match. I only remember one thing: It was my best friend’s brother who signed us up at the football club in Évreux. That’s still one of my best memories. I wanted to play football, but I didn’t want to deal with the paperwork and all that. We needed someone older to go sign us up. (Laughs.)

You both entered the professional circuit very young. How do you handle that many expectations at that age?

Dembélé: For me, I’ve only had one dream since I was little, and that’s to play football. It’s my passion. You’re carefree at that age — you just want to have fun.

Ninho: The goal was simply to be the best in your field.

Dembélé: For me, it was a dream to get into a youth academy and maybe turn professional. I didn’t really feel pressure back then — it was just pure innocence.

Can you each tell us your greatest victory outside of football and music?

Dembélé: Outside of football, I don’t have one, guys. (Laughs.) No, my family, honestly.

Ninho: Family, absolutely. The fact that my mother has a garden and that she can throw a big family barbecue. That my family never has to worry about anything. That alone is already magnificent.

And the worst defeat?

Dembélé: I’ve had a lot of defeats that hurt. The 2022 World Cup, when we lost to Argentina, that one hurt. Especially since everyone was waiting for us back in Paris. The Champions League eliminations with Barcelona. The next day, honestly, I didn’t even want to watch football anymore.

Ninho: My defeat is the start of my career. Things were a bit chaotic at first. It’s a defeat because it was managed like a kid from the projects entering a world he really didn’t know. There was so much to learn. But those are defeats that help you grow.

Dembélé: In the good times, a lot of people will revolve around you, but in the bad times, that circle shrinks immediately. It’s important to be well surrounded if you want to have a career, whether in rap or in football. On my end, it’s my best friend, my mother and my agent. They’ve always been there since the beginning. They watched me grow up; they saw me when I had nothing. And now they see me at the top.

Do you believe in destiny?

Ninho: Well, first of all, we’re simply believers. Some things just aren’t coincidences. It’s a chain of events. Sometimes there are bad encounters, but you have to go through them to arrive at a new encounter that will take you where you’re meant to go.

Dembélé: That’s the story of my career. I started at Rennes, then Dortmund, where everything went well for two years. Then I fulfilled my dearest dream, playing for Barcelona. And as if by fate, when I went to Barcelona, I had quite a few physical setbacks. On the pitch, I didn’t feel right either. Eventually, I signed with Paris, and everything unfolded like a dream. And ultimately, destiny made it so that I was crowned Ballon d’Or last season.

Ninho, in one of your tracks, you compare yourself to Ousmane. Can you tell us what he represents to you?

Ninho: Ousmane represents the projects, first and foremost. He’s a star who’s still approachable. Like me. I think he must experience it, too. Out in public, people must say, “Ousmane, what’s good?” There’s no distance. Ousmane is the people’s Ballon d’Or winner. He’s proof that with hard work, you can reach star status.

What do awards mean to you?

Dembélé: They show that hard work pays off. It’s also a great source of pride for us and for our whole family. Receiving a trophy like the Ballon d’Or, from Ronaldinho’s hands on top of that, it’s pure joy. And it must be the same for him with rap.

Ninho: When you look at the artists who filled the Stade de France before you, when you see every concert venue fill up, it makes you happy.

How do you keep wanting to push for even more?

Dembélé: In my case, in football, in August everything resets to zero, so you have to get right back into it.

Ninho: That’s why I compared an album to a league season or a cup. Because after the cup, you have to go through another whole cycle to win another cup. For me it’s the same. It’s a perpetual competition to make each album better than the last.

This story appears in the May 30, 2026, issue of Billboard.