ARLINGTON, Texas — Kylian Mbappé seemed to question Didier Deschamps’ approach and tactics after France‘s 2-0 defeat to Spain in the FIFA World Cup semifinal on Tuesday.
The result ended France’s quest to reach a third-straight World Cup final, with Mbappé held scoreless and finishing the tournament with eight goals — tied with Argentina‘s Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot lead.
Spain midfield general Rodri was dynamic throughout the match as the defending European Champions, who have now beaten France three times in a row, got the better of a Deschamps’ team that had been dominant in its first six games in North America.
“We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, that’s hard,” Mbappé said after the game. “Fabian [Ruiz] and Rodri had plenty of time to play. There was a lack of communication on the press. I think we should have done man-to-man press and force them to run with us.”
Mbappé also scored eight goals four years ago in Qatar, where France lost to Messi and Argentina in a penalty shootout in the final. France beat Croatia to win the World Cup eight years ago in Russia.
On Tuesday, though, France were disappointing in every phase of play, which Mbappé acknowledged along with his tactical analysis. They never got a foothold in the game with Spain having full control, especially after Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the penalty spot following Lucas Digne‘s foul on Lamine Yamal.
“We didn’t play the game we wanted, technically, tactically,” Mbappé added. “When you don’t do what you have to do in a World Cup semifinal, you don’t win. Spain respected their game plan and what the team usually does. They like to control the ball and the tempo. Our plan was to press them high so they could not install their rhythm.
“Because they are better than us at controlling a game. We didn’t manage to do it. We were too sloppy technically. We could not hurt them when we could have.”
But the Real Madrid star also highlighted the errors made by the players after Spain found success in getting the ball back from France even when it lost possession.
“Even when we recovered the ball, our first touches were not good enough. That gives a defeat. It is a huge disappointment. But if we are objective, we didn’t put all the ingredients to go to the final,” Mbappé said.
Deschamps tried to alter the course of the game with substitutes in the second half — taking off Adrien Rabiot at the break and brining on Désiré Doué and Manchester City attacker Ryan Cherki later on — but none of the switches had any effect on the outcome.
“I don’t know what to say. They were better than us in every part of the game and they were hungrier than us I think,” Cherki said after the game. “It is sad because I still believe that we are a better team than them, but this afternoon Spain has been better than us. Even in an off day, we have to be a bit better technically, tactically, in the desire.
“In so many ways, France was missing everything today. Truly, everything was missing today. We’ll be back in four years and we won’t make the same mistakes.”
The frustrations of the game seemed to boil over for the 27-year-old Mbappé in the 86th minute when he rushed toward Unai Simón just as the Spain goalkeeper was bending over to pick up the ball. The two collided, sending Simón to the grass and earning Mbappé a yellow card.
“As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that,” Mbappé said. “We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”
France will play the loser of Wednesday’s semifinal between Argentina and England in the third-place game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
