Desailly warns Paraguay: Dembele has not yet hit top gear at this World Cup

France legend Marcel Desailly has warned Les Bleus’ World Cup rivals that Ousmane Dembele is still to produce his best football at the tournament, despite the PSG winger already netting four goals heading into Saturday’s round-of-16 clash with Paraguay in Philadelphia.

Dembele, who had never scored in a major international tournament before this summer, sits two goals behind Golden Boot co-leaders Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. He opened his account in France’s 3-0 group-stage win over Iraq before landing a first-half hat-trick in the 4-1 defeat of Norway.

Yet 1998 World Cup winner Desailly believes there is considerably more to come. “I would like to see Dembele lift his level a little bit, I would like to see him taking on his opponent much more,” the former defender said. “His understanding with his teammates is absolutely incredible. He can do more. He can definitely do more now that he has the sweetness in his mouth of playing for France as a winger rather than as a false nine like he does for PSG.”

Desailly acknowledged that the positional shift required a degree of humility from Dembele, given his standing at club level. “Because of his form and his status, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to accept the idea that he should play as a winger again and, in many ways, letting his captain Kylian Mbappé take all the rewards,” he said.

The 1998 champion was effusive about Dembele’s natural qualities, pointing to the fee Barcelona paid to acquire him. “Barcelona took him because he was an amazing winger. They paid 150 million Euros for him. He’s an amazing winger. Both feet. As a defender, you don’t know how to mark him; it’s almost impossible.”

Desailly did, however, identify one area where France’s group stage was not entirely convincing — the match against Senegal, where he felt Dembele and the team as a whole struggled before recovering in the second half. “It wasn’t just Ousmane Dembélé who struggled. Once we readjusted for the second half, we were much better and so was Dembele,” he said.

On the Norway performance, Desailly was careful to contextualise the 4-1 scoreline, noting that Ståle Solbakken rested six or seven players. “You can only beat the opponent you play, but France showed great potential, great desire, and great chemistry — everything flowed in that game,” he added.

France enter the Paraguay tie as heavy favourites, and Desailly’s verdict suggests their most dangerous attacker may not yet have shown the full extent of his threat.