France captain, Kylian Mbappe, has explained why Les Bleus were eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, admitting Spain outplayed his side tactically and technically in Tuesday’s semi-final.
Spain secured a 2-0 victory to book their place in Sunday’s final, with goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro ending France’s hopes of reaching a third consecutive World Cup final.
Speaking after the match, Mbappe said France failed to execute their pressing strategy, allowing Spain’s midfield duo of Rodri and Fabián Ruiz to dictate the game.
“We were three against two in midfield, and against Spain, that’s hard,” Mbappe said.
“Fabian and Rodri had plenty of time to play. There was a lack of communication on the press. I think we should have done a man-to-man press and forced them to run with us.”
The Real Madrid forward also admitted France struggled with possession and failed to impose themselves on the match.
“We didn’t play the game we wanted, technically, tactically,” he said.
“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.
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“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.”
Mbappe added that France repeatedly gave the ball away after winning possession, making it difficult to threaten Spain.
“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.”
The France captain accepted responsibility for the defeat.
“As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility, and I have no problem with that. We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”
France will now play in Saturday’s third-place match, while Spain awaits the winner of the other semi-final between England and Argentina in the World Cup final.
