Ousmane Dembele's appearance in World Cup final could be the worst 41 minutes in football history
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Ousmane Dembele's performance in France's defeat to Argentina in the World Cup final could go down as one of the worst in history.
Didier Deschamps' side were beaten in a dramatic contest at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday as Lionel Messi clinched international football's highest honour in his final appearance at the competition.
Argentina didn't allow France to settle into their rhythm in the first half, managing to breach their backline on several occasions.
They received a penalty 23 minutes in after Dembele shoved Angel Di Maria to the ground as he entered the France penalty area.
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Messi made no mistake from the spot, sending Hugo Lloris the wrong way to give Argentina the lead. Dembele looked distraught and attempted to get France back into the game.
The Barcelona superstar had enjoyed a strong tournament up to this point, registering two assists in six games.
His attempts to force the issue against Argentina backfired spectacularly. He had no positive impact in attack as France failed to have a touch in the Argentina box or a shot on target.
Dembele's individual stats fare even worse. He failed to win a single one of his five duels with opposing players, lost possession seven times and was dribbled past twice. That's in addition to giving away the foul for the penalty.
Angel Di Maria doubled Argentina's lead in the 36th minute after finishing a fine team move.
Five minutes later, Deschamps had seen enough. He substituted Dembele plus Olivier Giroud for Randal Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram.
The 25-year-old didn't even receive an embrace from his manager as he trudged to the bench.
Fans online have reacted to Dembele's performance and they weren't impressed at all.
One person said: "Could be one of the worst performances I've ever witnessed."
A second tweeted: "Dembele picked a hell of a game to forget how to play football."
Someone out: "Dembele giving R9 vibes from the 98 final. Something seems off."
While another added: "Dembele won't recover from this performance, I promise you."
France sprung into like 10 minutes from time after receiving a penalty of their own. Nicolas Otamendi hauled Kolo Muani to the ground, forcing Szymon Marciniak to point to the spot for a second time.
Kylian Mbappe stepped up to half the deficit with a thumping effort. Nobody could predict what was coming a minute later.
After Kingsley Coman snatched the ball from Messi, France worked their way back up the pitch. Mbappe fired home a first-time volley too hot for Emiliano Martinez to handle.
In extra-time, Argentina went ahead once again through Messi before Mbappe converted a second penalty to seal his hat-trick.
Argentina would go on to win the penalty shootout 4-2, clinching their first World Cup since 1986.
Featured Image Credit: BBC Sport & Alamy
Topics: Ousmane Dembele, France, Argentina
