The incredible case of Dembélé: from blanking at Qatar to glory in 2026

At Qatar 2022, Ousmane Dembélé played the World Cup that France won as runners-up and didn't score a single goal. Four years later, in 2026, he left the tournament with 6 goals — including a complete hat-trick in the first half of a match — and as one of the standout figures of the competition.

The World Cup he was missing

Dembélé opened his scoring account against Iraq in the Group Stage. But the match that put him on everyone's radar was the next one: against Norway, he scored three goals in just 25 minutes — at the 7th, 20th, and 32nd minutes —, a complete hat-trick before halftime even arrived. It was, incidentally, the match in which France completely neutralized Erling Haaland's Norway — the Norwegian had a great World Cup overall, but on that particular day he found no room to do damage. Dembélé added one more goal in the Quarter-finals against Morocco, and closed out his tournament with a very late goal (90+6') in the Third Place match against England. Six goals in total, in a tournament where France finished fourth.

The context: the best run of his career

Dembélé's 2026 didn't come out of nowhere. It follows the most outstanding season of his career with Paris Saint-Germain: in 2024-25 he was a key piece in a historic quadruple for the club (Ligue 1, Coupe de France, French Super Cup, and the first Champions League title in PSG's history), finishing as the European tournament's best player and later winning the 2025 Ballon d'Or. In May 2026, in the Champions League final against Arsenal, he scored the equalizing penalty in the 65th minute before PSG won it on penalties — the club's second consecutive European title.

The records set by the Mbappé-Olise-Dembélé trio

France didn't get this far by chance: its attack set several of the most important records of the 2026 World Cup. Kylian Mbappé finished as the tournament's top scorer, and along the way, as the all-time top scorer across every World Cup, surpassing Messi and Klose. Michael Olise, for his part, closed with 7 assists, the all-time record for a single World Cup, surpassing the 6 Pelé left in Mexico 1970. Dembélé didn't take home any record of his own — but a complete hat-trick before halftime, plus 6 goals in a single tournament, is the kind of performance that doesn't need a record to go down in history. Between the three of them, France put together one of the most productive attacks any single World Cup has ever had.

From not scoring at a World Cup to becoming a two-time Champions League winner, Ballon d'Or holder, and standout scorer at the following tournament — Dembélé's case is one of the most striking career turnarounds seen in recent football. And at 29, with France and with PSG, he still seems to have more to give.