Kylian Mbappe offered a blunt assessment of France’s World Cup semifinal exit Tuesday, saying his team was too “sloppy” to keep Spain from controlling a 2-0 victory in Arlington, Texas.
The France captain pointed to breakdowns in both the game plan and its execution after Les Bleus were denied a third consecutive appearance in the World Cup final. Spain consistently created an extra man in midfield, leaving Rodri and Fabian Ruiz with the time and space to dictate possession.
“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.”
France entered the semifinal having won its first six matches and scored 16 goals, but struggled to establish its attack against Spain. Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty in the 22nd minute after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal, and Pedro Porro doubled the advantage shortly before the hour mark.
Mbappe said France’s plan had been to apply pressure high up the field and prevent Spain from settling into its preferred possession game. Instead, Spain regularly played through the press and quickly recovered the ball whenever France briefly regained it.
“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.”
The Real Madrid forward also criticized France’s work with the ball, saying poor first touches and missed opportunities prevented his team from testing Spain when openings appeared.
“We were too sloppy technically,” Mbappe said. “We could not hurt them when we could have.”
Didier Deschamps tried to shift the match by removing Adrien Rabiot at halftime and later introducing Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki. The changes did little to disrupt Spain’s control, and Mbappe was held scoreless after entering the match with eight tournament goals.
He remains tied with Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot lead. Mbappe also scored eight goals at the 2022 World Cup, when France lost the final to Argentina in a penalty shootout.
“As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that,” Mbappe said. “We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”
France will face the loser of Wednesday’s Argentina-England semifinal in Saturday’s third-place match in Miami Gardens, Fla.
