Dembele said, criticism of Mbappe has gone out of bounds

Ousmane Dembele has expressed his shock at "unjust" criticism of Kylian Mbappe, which he says has crossed the line. Mbappe scored 42 goals in 44 matches in all competitions for Real Madrid in 2025–26. However, Los Blancos did not win any major titles this season, with two coaches (Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arabello) being sacked – with José Mourinho being officially appointed as Real Madrid's new coach this week. In Europe's top five leagues, only Harry Kane (61) has scored more goals than Mbappe for the club this season, but the France star has still faced criticism from parts of Real Madrid. Reports suggested there were disagreements between Mbappe and the coaching staff over injuries, while he was also regularly booed by Madrid supporters. A petition was even started for him to leave the club. This situation surprised Dembele, last year's Ballon d'Or winner. Dembele told Marca, "The criticism against him is very, very unfair. Some people cross a bit of the line in their criticism of Kylian. He is an amazing player and a very good person off the field. Some people increase their criticism of him because he is Kylian Mbappe. They should not go after him." "Whether he ties his shoelaces or not, whether he pulls up his socks or not. It's too much. He's still a human being. With the France team, he's very good to us, he's a leader," he said. Mbappe is now focused on the World Cup as he aims to lead a France team who are considered favorites to win the tournament. According to Opta's supercomputer, only Spain (16.3%) have a better chance of winning the trophy than Les Blues (13.5%). Like Mbappe, Dembele has also won the World Cup before, having been part of the French team in 2018. France also made the final in 2022, losing to Lionel Messi's Argentina, with Mbappe scoring a hat-trick in that game.