Dembélé struggles with France: Riolo and Ménès already exclude him from Zidane's starting XI

Ousmane Dembélé made little impact during France’s first squad gathering under Zinédine Zidane. Deployed centrally against Turkey and Italy, then on the right wing against Belgium, the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner made so many mistakes that it sparked debate about his place in the French starting XI.

Daniel Riolo was the first to weigh in. “He doesn’t stand out among the positives, even though we tried to put him in the right conditions,” he said on L’After Foot on RMC. “Despite that, it still didn’t work as a number nine, and on the wing, we realized it was as if he’d lost all his bearings. He had to go one-on-one twice every time he tried.” The consultant went further: “In such a short time, when asked to pick a team, he’s already out of the starting XI. He’s already lost a lot, a lot of credit.”

Riolo sketched out a psychological explanation: “It’s as if he opened an enchanted bracket in January 2025, until June 2026. But that bracket only exists with the PSG shirt.” According to him, the Dembélé seen against Belgium — shots into the stands, missed chances — recalled the clumsy version from before his Paris transformation. “There’s real pressure on his shoulders: digesting the Ballon d’Or, arriving at France where we’re making space for him… For now the balance sheet is negative. I’m dropping him from the next starting XI. He can’t be this team’s number nine if everyone is fit.”

Pierre Ménès shares this assessment on his YouTube channel. “What really confuses people is that Dembélé won this Ballon d’Or. It’s a great honor, but it becomes a burden: you not only have to have won it, but prove yourself worthy of it in the seasons that follow.” The consultant also recalled that Dembélé was “injured for quite a long time” the previous season, noting that a career is “not necessarily linear.”

Zidane, meanwhile, can be satisfied with an overall record of three wins and a draw in his debut. But the Dembélé question is already emerging as the first sensitive issue of his tenure.