World vice-champion France was considered a semifinal favorite, but throughout the match they failed to impose their own game rules and lost to Spain 0:2, losing the chance to reach the world championship final for the third time in a row.
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These were the first matches in this championship in which the French failed to score a goal, although until then D. Deschamps’ team had an average of 2.7 goals per game.
The Spaniards defeated the French for the third time in a row – they triumphed over their main rivals in the 2024 European Championship semifinal (2:1) and the 2025 UEFA Nations League semifinal (5:4).
“We played two against three in midfield, and against Spain that is difficult to do,” K. Mbappe sharply commented on the French tactics after the match. “Fabián Ruiz and Rodri (Spain’s midfielders – ed.) had plenty of time with the ball, we communicated poorly when pressing the opponents. I think we should have pressed them individually and forced them to run with us.”
For Real Madrid star K. Mbappe, this was the first match in this tournament in which he did not make any decisive actions. Only against Norway had he not scored, but in that match the forward made two assists.
Despite this, K. Mbappe remains the top scorer of the tournament with 8 goals and 3 assists, slightly ahead of Argentine Lionel Messi, who plays tonight’s semifinal against England (8 goals, 2 assists).
“We did not play the match we wanted technically and tactically,” K. Mbappe continued. “When you don’t do that in a World Cup semifinal, you lose. Spain respected their game plan and what this team usually does. They like to control the ball and the pace of the game. Our plan was to press them high so they couldn’t gain rhythm. But they are better at controlling the game, so we failed. We made too many technical mistakes, we couldn’t break them where we should have.”
Finally, the forward admitted that his team did not deserve to reach the final.
“Even when we intercepted the ball, our first touches were not good enough. That determined the defeat. We are very disappointed. But if we speak objectively, we did not do enough to reach the final,” said K. Mbappe.
Meanwhile, D. Deschamps, who has been coaching France since 2012, praised the opponents and admitted that his team was not good enough to win.
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“Today Spain defended exceptionally well. They left us no space,” said the coach. “Moreover, we made many technical mistakes, so it was difficult for us to cause them problems. Our technical level was lower than what we showed in previous matches. To have hope, we had to play our best match, but we did not.”
The French made 10 shots on the Spanish goal throughout the match, but only one was from closer than 13 meters and only three were on target.
France’s leaders K. Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Michael Olise combined for 13 goals and 10 assists in the first six matches, but in yesterday’s match they made only five shots together and generated just 0.15 expected goals (xG).
“We didn’t find solutions. I don’t want to say that our attacking and technical strengths just disappeared, although that is usually our strength. The opponents also played a big role. I won’t try to erase everything we achieved, but I will repeat: when playing against a team like Spain, you have to play absolutely your best. France was not at that level today,” said the 57-year-old strategist.
He also raised questions about the match referee Ivan Barton from El Salvador. In the first half, he awarded a penalty against the French when Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal. This allowed Spanish forward Mikel Oyarzabal to score the first goal.
“If I say something about this, I will look like a sore loser. But I ask you: was the referee worthy of officiating the semifinal? There was a penalty, but that’s not everything, you have to consider everything else. Today I have nothing against the referee, but ask yourself this question,” D. Deschamps hinted.
On Saturday at midnight, the French will play for third place against the English or Argentinians. This will be D. Deschamps’ last match as head coach of the French national team – according to reports, after this tournament the legendary strategist will be replaced by another well-known French football figure, Zinedine Zidane.
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