World Cup: Diomande writes about his sister’s death before the DFB game

Before the game against the DFB team

World Cup star publishes letter to deceased sister

Yan Diomande publishes an open letter to his sister, who died at the age of 15. A gives a very private insight into his emotional world.

Shortly before Ivory Coast’s World Cup game against Germany, the magazine “The Players Tribune” published a letter from 19-year-old RB Leipzig professional Yan Diomande. In it, he addressed his sister Roxane, who died a few weeks before his professional debut at the age of 15.

The letter begins with “Dear Roxane, do you remember…” Diomande describes how he found out about his sister’s death: “Someone kept calling me from home. I was annoyed. I didn’t understand why they kept calling. I answered and they didn’t even do it gently. You know how it is in our house. No emotions. Just… ‘Your sister is dead’.” Someone put something in her drink at a party – she never woke up again.

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Diomande made his professional debut for Leganés in Spain in March 2025. About the time afterwards he writes: “Today I no longer feel anything. It’s as if I’m no longer human. Since your death I’ve just been empty.” He describes the soccer field as the only place “where I still feel at home.”

In the letter he remembers shared dreams: “Do you remember how we sat together and dreamed of moving to France? (…) You were the only one who always believed that I could become the next Cristiano (Ronaldo) while everyone else laughed.” Roxane predicted that he would become the best in the world – even before he had real football boots.