France: Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, a duo reminiscent of Ronaldo-Rivaldo

09.07.26 FT World Cup

France

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Morocco

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The French national team has reached the final four of the World Cup after defeating Morocco 2-0, courtesy of goals from Kylian Mbappé (60’) and Ousmane Dembélé (66’).

Once again, Didier Deschamps was able to rely on his dynamic duo to keep the dream of the title alive. Kylian Mbappé has now netted 8 goals, while Ousmane Dembélé has struck 5 times since the start of the tournament.

Having two players this prolific in one national team is something we haven’t seen since Ronaldo and Rivaldo dazzled for Brazil in 2002. That Brazilian duo also found the net 13 times and delivered the Seleção another World Cup title in Japan and South Korea.

FIFA reminds us that the World Cup has always been marked by legendary striking partnerships—Hungary’s György Sárosi and Gyula Zsengellér in 1938, Sándor Kocsis and Ferenc Puskás in 1954, and Brazil’s Ademir and Chico in 1950.

There were also Pelé and Vavá in 1958, Pelé and Jairzinho in 1970, Just Fontaine and Raymond Kopa in 1958, Helmut Haller and Franz Beckenbauer in 1966, Grzegorz Lato and Andrzej Szarmach in 1974, and of course, Diego Maradona and Jorge Valdano in 1986.

Twenty-four years ago, Ronaldo scored 8 goals and Rivaldo 5, propelling Brazil to their fifth World Cup crown. Now, Les Bleus dream of doing the same with the red-hot Mbappé-Dembélé partnership, surrounded by high-caliber talents like Michael Olise, Adrien Rabiot, Désiré Doué, and Bradley Barcola.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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