‘Too sloppy technically’: France’s Mbappe rues defeat by Spain

Kylian Mbappe offered a blunt assessment of France's World Cup semifinal exit Tuesday (Jul 14), 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 criticised 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