Booed and substituted, Dembélé gives way to brilliant Olise against Belgium

Ousmane Dembélé was substituted at the half-hour mark to boos from Stade de France during France’s 4-1 victory over Belgium, his second disappointing performance in a row following an already dull match against Italy. Michael Olise, brought on in his place, turned the game around with an assist and a brace late in the match.

Captain in the absence of Kylian Mbappé, the Paris player drifted through the match like a ghost. The tone was set from the first minute with a completely missed shot sent into the stands. Over the course of the evening, the statistics are damning: 22 balls lost, just one successful dribble out of six attempts, and none of his five shots were on target. More worryingly, one of his turnovers allowed Belgium to open the scoring in the 35th minute.

Despite a few timid combinations created for Akliouche and Lepaul, the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner never weighed on the opposing defence. The sports press was unsparing: L’Équipe gave him a rating of 3/10, saying the player had “too often lacked something”. Le Parisien and Le Figaro spoke of a “disappointing performance” and an “insipid first half”.

At his press conference, manager Zinedine Zidane attempted to protect his player by saying he had “not much to criticize”, but the reality on the pitch told a different story.

The contrast with Michael Olise was all the more striking. Brought on in place of Dembélé, the Bayern player lit up the end of the match with an assist for Rayan Cherki in the 80th minute, before scoring a brace in the 87th and 90+1st minutes. Penetration, creativity, efficiency: Olise delivered in half an hour everything Dembélé failed to produce in sixty minutes.

With his starting place seemingly secure with the captain’s armband, Dembélé now faces direct and dazzling competition emerging on the right wing for the Blues.