Ousmane Dembélé had a great card to play during this international break. In the absence of Kylian Mbappé, left to rest for this gathering, the Paris Saint-Germain striker had been named captain of the France team and naturally found himself at the center of attention. After winning the Ballon d’Or a year ago, the Frenchman approached this meeting with an even different status and additional responsibility in the offensive animation of the Blues. Zinédine Zidane obviously expected a lot from his new leader, especially in the big matches against Belgium. But this truce ultimately did not allow Dembélé to meet the expectations placed on him, despite the victory of the Blues against the Red Devils (4-1).
Already uninspired during the first confrontation against the Red Devils, the French striker once again got through the meeting at the Stade de France with great difficulty. Positioned on the right side and regularly sought after by his partners, he never really succeeded in turning the match around. Worse still, his influence seemed to fade as the minutes passed, to the point that the captain’s exit at the hour mark coincided with a spectacular rise in power for the Blues. With Olise, Cherki and Da Cunha on the pitch, France then found much more percussion and creativity to finally completely overthrow Belgium.
Zidane does not want to be alarming
The figures confirm this particularly negative impression. Holder for 60 minutes, Dembélé, credited with a rating of 2/10 in our columns, recorded neither a goal nor an assist and did not target any of his attempts. In offensive duels, the observation is also difficult to defend with only one successful dribble out of six attempted. His inability to eliminate his opponent regularly limited French possibilities in the final third and made the French offensives much more predictable. “I found Dembélé very good, especially at the start of the match and at the start of the second period. He was very dynamic. No worries there. He can play all positions. He can play everywhere and is good in all positions. He was exemplary», Zidane preferred to put things into perspective. Even when he managed to find an interesting position, the last gesture was not there, like this first opportunity completely missed in the first seconds of the match.
His technical waste also weighed heavily on an evening where the Blues monopolized the ball for a long time. Dembélé lost possession 22 times and failed to complete any of his six attempted crosses. Particularly harsh statistics for a player supposed to be one of the main detonators of this France team. Above all, the contrast with the face displayed by his partners after his replacement is striking. Carried by an inspired Cherki, a decisive Doué and especially an Olise involved in the last three goals, the Tricolores scored four goals in just fourteen minutes to overthrow a Belgium which was still leading in the 77th minute. For Dembélé, who had to take advantage of Mbappé’s absence to send a strong message, this truce ends with a bitter taste and many more questions than answers. Even historic because the former FC Barcelona player was not decisive in his last four matches with France, his worst series in the selection since the period November 2023-September 2024.
