Dembele also praised outgoing head coach Didier Deschamps, who will leave his position after the tournament.
"He's simply an exceptional coach," said Dembele.
The forward expressed confidence that Deschamps has secured his place in the history of the national team.
"He will forever remain a legend among French national team coaches," stated Dembele.
When questioned about Zinedine Zidane potentially taking over the national team bench, Dembele welcomed the prospect.
"We hope to welcome him one day to the France bench. I'm convinced he would do a fantastic job," added Dembele.
The atmosphere inside the French camp drew further attention after social media footage showed an apparently cold exchange between Mbappe and N'Golo Kante in the tunnel before the Ivory Coast match.
Friction reportedly developed between the two players on March 29, 2026, when Kante was asked to hand over the captain's armband to Mbappe during a match against Colombia.
Mbappe also faced backlash from fans after leaving the training camp with federation approval following the Northern Ireland friendly, later appearing in social media images in Madrid.
Former France international Paul Pogba dismissed the negative commentary, pointing to Mbappe's high scoring output of 42 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid despite an injury-plagued second half of the season.
"Can you imagine me [saying] that he had a little difficult season, and this difficult season would be the best season ever for almost all the strikers," said Pogba.
Pogba argued that the high expectations placed on Mbappe distort the public perception of his actual achievements on the pitch.
