France’s Ousmane Dembélé: ‘If we want to win the World Cup, we have to attack and defend together.’ | OneFootball

RMC Sport asked Ousmane Dembélé (29) whether France were one of the favourites going into this summer’s FIFA World Cup, which, of course, they are, by virtue of going to the final of the previous edition and winning the one before that. 

But Dembélé’s response was curious and used the question as a way to make a statement ahead of the World Cup. “There are big teams, but as I said to the team in March, too, if we want to win, we need to attack as a team and defend as a team. In 2026, that is the only way that you can get to the end,” said the Ballon d’Or winner. 

Dembélé targets Mbappé with remark?

Dembélé is a keen presser. His eagerness to close down Yann Sommer in the final of last season’s UEFA Champions League was one of the images of Paris Saint-Germain’s triumph and of that collective spirit that he came to represent. 

But not all players are as keen to make the effort and, when Dembélé chooses to make a statement, as he did earlier in the season, calling on PSG’s players to play for the team and not for themselves, it is done for effect, to elicit a response. From whom? 

You can only speculate but you imagine that it could be a message to Kylian Mbappé. His teammate at Real Madrid, Fran Garcia, said that if Mbappé did more running, “it would help the rest of the team a lot”. Those comments came back in January and even more recently, his former PSG teammate, Presnel Kimpembe, evoked a similar issue: “I told him that he tired me out when he didn’t run. But he is too good with his responses, Kylian. He has a real comeback,” said the former France international. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle