Dembele relishing France´s World Cup campaign

Ousmane Dembele is relishing the chance to head into a World Cup playing the best football of his career.

Ballon d’Or winner Dembele has had a stop-start season due to injuries.

However, he has still provided 20 goal involvements for Paris Saint-Germain in 29 appearances across all competitions, scoring 12 times and recording eight assists.

On Thursday, Dembele assisted Kylian Mbappe in France’s 2-1 win over Brazil, and the forward believes he is clearly playing at his very best.

In an interview with Fox Deportes ahead of Sunday’s friendly against Colombia, Dembele said: “I have a lot more experience and the level I’ve had since last season is much better. There are many things that have changed in football or in my personal life.

“There are only positives, I am much calmer, much more thoughtful. I hope to maintain this level.

“I’m happy. I’m clearly in the best part of my career. I’ve gained a lot of experience, both in football and in life. I know myself, I know what I have to do.

“Playing in a World Cup isn’t an everyday occurrence. It’s an honour for a professional football player; it’s where you find the best players and the best teams. I hope to be part of that list and to do very well at this World Cup. I’m very excited about what’s to come.”

France, world champions in 2018, finished as runners-up to Argentina in Qatar in 2022.

Didier Deschamps has a vast array of talent to choose from, and Dembele knows the pressure will be on to deliver in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

He added: “We’re mainly focused on ourselves. There’s been a group of players who know each other for several years now. We’ll need to be good as a team, above all.

“There’s not really any pressure because we were outsiders in 2018 and we won that trophy. We were one of the favourites in Qatar too and we reached the final. We’re used to all that. There’s a lot of calm.

“There are some huge individual talents. But you can have all the best players in the world, but if you don’t have a structured and united team, it’s not going to work.

“That’s what we’re going to focus on most. The team comes first. We’re preparing well for this World Cup and we hope to go all the way.”