France captain Kylian Mbappe appeared to cast doubt on Didier Deschamps’ tactical decisions after France suffered a 2-0 defeat to Spain in the semi-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday.
The result ended Les Bleus’ bid to reach a third successive World Cup final, with Spain producing a dominant display to eliminate one of the tournament favourites and secure a place in Sunday’s final.
Speaking after the match, Mbappe suggested France got their pressing strategy wrong against Spain’s dominant midfield, which was led by Rodri and Fabián Ruiz.
“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 man-to-man press and force them to run with us.”
The Real Madrid forward admitted France failed both tactically and technically, allowing Spain to dictate the tempo throughout the contest.
“We didn’t play the game we wanted, technically, tactically,” Mbappe 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.
“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.”
Spain took control of the match after Mikel Oyarzabal converted a first-half penalty before Pedro Porro doubled the lead, with France struggling to create meaningful chances.
Mbappe also blamed the players for repeatedly surrendering 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.”
