France have been knocked out of the World Cup, losing 2-0 to Spain in the semifinal, and with that the dream of reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele of making a piece of history has also been shattered. He could not break the World Cup’s so-called “Ballon d’Or curse.”
History shows that a footballer who wins the Ballon d’Or in the year before a World Cup has never gone on to win that World Cup. Dembele was one of the biggest candidates to end that long wait, but his dream too ended with the semifinal defeat to Spain.
Earlier, 1997 Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo took Brazil to the 1998 World Cup final but could not win the title, losing 3-0 to France. The curse remained intact after Dembele too.
Dembele is now the third reigning Ballon d’Or winner in history to bow out at a World Cup semifinal, following Eusebio in 1966 and Michel Platini in 1986.
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