# Mbappé and Dembélé: Tensions in the France Squad

- Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2120643848925761835
- Source account: [@lequipedusoir](https://x.com/lequipedusoir)
- Source language: French
- Target language: English
- Duration: 2:20
- Published: 2026-11-12
- Machine translated. Check the original before quoting.
- Canonical URL: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad
- Original-language version: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/fr/mbapp%C3%A9-et-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-des-tensions-en-%C3%A9quipe-de-france.md

## Transcript

[0:00](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad) There are two things, um, Grandma. There’s obviously this positioning, um, on the left where, um, I recall being at the stadium before he got hurt.

[0:08](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=8) I hadn’t seen him showing overwhelming enthusiasm in the tunnel before the match, in, um, the calls he could make on the left side, the, the body language as we like, um, to call it.

[0:19](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=19) I’m not saying he didn’t obviously give it his all, his comments were a little far-fetched, but I didn’t feel he was keen on this position on the left since there was a sense of making room for Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé in his preferred club position,

[0:33](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=33) namely as a false nine and moving the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history for the French national team out to the left.

[0:40](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=40) So there you go. And what followed, and this is the most dramatic thing about the sequence with Dembélé, with, uh, Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, is that Mbappé left the group, and some of his teammates thought his departure was premature,

[0:53](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=53) that he then played match after match for Real Madrid as if he hadn't been affected.

[0:58](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=58) And then, a lot, a lot of people in that group really love Ousmane Dembélé and think that during this excessive and terribly failed campaign by Kylian Mbappé, he pushed things a little too far.

[1:10](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=70) Sometimes relations are good, sometimes it turns out relations are a little less good.

[1:15](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=75) And right now, in the French national team, Kylian Mbappé, uh, well, isn't quite as universally popular anymore. and untouchable as he may have been at the World Cup, for example.

[1:24](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=84) Um, his exit, that he wanted to play at— well, Zidane prefers him on the left, that, that isn't something that contributes or a key element of the, the unease we're discussing tonight.

[1:35](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=95) Ah, I don't think so. I think he didn't, he didn't like that decision.

[1:39](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=99) I think he prefers to play centrally, but that's just my impression.

[1:43](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=103) In terms of, um, information and the feedback we're getting, it's that, between Dembélé and Mbappé, when they meet in the France squad, things weren't as usual, and there were other teammates, between his hasty departure after his first injury during the last international break and his behavior toward Ousmane Dembélé,

[2:01](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=121) others in the France squad who didn't like it all.

[2:04](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=124) I speak as the captain. You have to— Grandma, you must never forget that at some point, whether we like it or not, Mbappé is the captain of the French national team.

[2:13](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=133) That means he's not just an important player.

[2:15](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=135) There's also a, a duty to, to, to bring people together.

[2:18](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/beNnDwbTYBk2/en/mbapp%C3%A9-and-demb%C3%A9l%C3%A9-tensions-in-the-france-squad?t=138) Pierre-Clément.