O. Dembélé
Latest news
Football Daily | France’s fab front four make them incomparable World Cup favourites
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!We can all agree the Geopolitics World Cup has gone on far too long, so Football Daily is pleased to announce it is over. It monopolises everyone’s time, changes sleeping, eating and drinking patterns, leaving everyone tired and poorer. No one wants to stay up for further 2am BST kick-offs or attempt to watch a couple of games a day. Frankly, the process has been completely futile since the first ball was kicked.Please hand over the trophy to France and save some carbon emissions (and the embarrassment of other teams). Just one of Mbappé, Olise, Dembélé, Rabiot or Barcola would be enough for most teams. They are currently the Duplantis of the football world, ironic given their last victim was Sweden” – Krishna Moorthy.Responding to Antony Crossley’s letter, as an American, I agree there are important reasons to berate our country, but chocolate?! There are a large variety of high quality dark, organic, and fair-trade chocolates available here if one knows enough to avoid the corporate swill. You could berate America for its almost universally over-salted restaurant food but folk from a nation that exalts Heinz baked beans for breakfast (so disappointing!) should be careful about starting food fights. OK, I’m tuning back into Telemundo now. Cheers” – Steve Plever.Please don’t turn Football Daily into a poetry forum (yesterday’s letters). I find the old jokes and football ‘analysis’ difficult enough as it is, OK?” – Z Snook.Stop the poetry” – Jon Millard (and 1,056 others).This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...
In ceding the reins to Mbappé, Olise and Dembélé, France look as under control as ever
Didier Deschamps used to manage with an iron fist. This time, he’s letting his stars run the show – to Les Bleus’ benefitWhen a cat has cornered a mouse and appears to be toying with its prey, it isn’t actually being cruel so much as it is planning and practicing all the ways in which it may finally kill it off.We are, it almost goes without saying, speaking about France at the 2026 World Cup here. Les Bleus have scored at least three goals in their last four games and, each time, looked an awful lot like they might have run the score up further, if only they hadn’t run out of time, energy or interest. Continue reading...
Ousmane Dembélé quietly becomes the main man after long journey to the top
The Frenchman, who has been named the best male footballer in the world by the Guardian, has benefitted from PSG’s focus on the team rather than individualsWhat makes a good player great, and a great player the best? This question has been occupying me since 2014, when the Guardian first asked me to contribute to its inaugural Next Generation feature. My job was to look for a France-based talent born in 1997 who could go on to have a stellar career.After a great deal of research, I narrowed it down from my shortlist of five by asking questions not about the players’ football ability, but about other attributes: resilience, adaptability, decision-making, creativity, work ethic, response to feedback and willingness to learn. Qualities we cannot see, and are harder to measure. Continue reading...
The 100 best male footballers in the world 2025
Ousmane Dembélé becomes our seventh winner as he beats Lamine Yamal into second and Vitinha into third on our list of the best players on the planetPremier League dominates list | How every judge voted | Our methodology | The top 100 female players for 20252024 edition | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 Continue reading...
Mbappé becomes leader of France’s collective under Deschamps’ regime of trust
Les Bleus’ thrilling front four is built on the spirit the head coach has fostered in his squad, allowing them to be both secure and adventurousIt was a striking image, the picture that best captured France’s World Cup campaign to this point. Not the one that caught Michael Olise in full flight as he executed a perfect bicycle kick that only sprang ungratefully off a Swedish post. Nor the one of the squad posing together on their private jet, turqoise hoods drawn tight to their chins. Instead it was the one of the hug, first between Kylian Mbappé and Didier Deschamps, and then with the rest of the squad too, as they celebrated the opening goal of their 3-0 last 32 victory over Sweden in a purposeful manner.Deschamps said later that Mbappé’s dash towards the technical area had “touched me deeply”. The head coach had briefly stepped back from his duties the week before to grieve the loss of his mother. Mbappé and the squad had wanted publicly to show how much he meant to them. “The group is united,” Deschamps said. “They delivered when I was away and now I’m back, they know I’m here 100%. Team spirit doesn’t win you matches but it can help you lose them. The collective strength is above everything and Kylian is the best shining example.” Continue reading...