Ousmane Dembélé extends Ballon d'Or World Cup curse after Spain defeat | OneFootball

France were beaten 2-0 by Spain in the World Cup semi-finals. L'Équipe notes that the result means Ousmane Dembélé missed the chance to become the first reigning Ballon d'Or to lift the trophy.

The forward had been the strongest candidate to end the streak since Ronaldo, who reached the 1998 final a year after his 1997 award, but he too fell short.

Dembélé is the third holder to fall in the semi-finals, following Eusébio in 1966 and Michel Platini in 1986.

Others made the final only to lose it. Gianni Rivera with Italy in 1970 against Brazil 1-4, Johan Cruyff with the Netherlands in 1974 against West Germany 1-2, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge with West Germany in 1982 against Italy 1-3, and Roberto Baggio with Italy in 1994 after a 0-0 draw then 2-3 on penalties.

Several reigning winners exited earlier. Omar Sivori in 1962 at the group stage, Marco Van Basten in 1990 in the last 16 against West Germany 1-2, Michael Owen in 2002 in the quarter-finals against Brazil 1-2, Ronaldinho in 2006 in the quarter-finals against France 0-1, Lionel Messi in 2010 in the quarter-finals against Germany 0-4, and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2014 at the group stage then in 2018 in the last 16 against Uruguay 0-2.

There were exceptions off the pitch, with Alfredo Di Stefano in 1958 and Alan Simonsen in 1978 not qualifying, and Karim Benzema ruled out in 2022.

Source: L'Équipe