Désiré Doué, the 21-year-old Paris Saint-Germain and France midfielder/forward, spoke to beIN SPORTS on Friday evening following the 4-1 victory over Norway on Matchday 3 of the 2026 World Cup. He discussed his special goal and the hat-trick scored by his PSG teammate Ousmane Dembélé (29-year-old forward).
Doué: “It’s a magnificent feeling.”
You’d never scored with a header before?
Exactly, it’s the first headed goal of my career, and, honestly, it’s a magnificent feeling. It’s very different from scoring with your feet, but I really enjoyed scoring with a header.
How did it happen?
I’d done it in the youth ranks, but this is my first as a pro. You have to get into the box and go for the ball; heading isn’t necessarily my strong suit. In this instance, Bradley put the ball right on my head; I just had to make the movement, and it turned out really well.
Doué: “We love playing together.”
Is it a great image—seeing his pass and your connection—given the talk about competition between you?
Exactly, because you’re the ones who frame it as a rivalry. Even at Paris, that’s always been the narrative. But we love playing together. We enjoy it; there are plenty of matches where we play alongside each other, and I think we link up really well on the pitch. We get along very well off the pitch, too. I’m really happy he played such a magnificent pass to me.
Doué: “When he’s like that, it’s incredible.”
Dembélé’s hat-trick and a great attacking connection, even if there are still some defensive flaws.
Defensively, we were actually good; despite the goal we conceded, we did some very good things. Offensively, it was classic Ousmane. When he’s like that, it’s incredible. He does us a world of good. Kylian (Mbappé) and Michael (Olise) are top-notch, and the substitutes bring a lot to the table. We need to keep it up.
