France captain Kylian Mbappe said his side were second best both tactically and technically as Spain ended Les Bleus’ hopes of reaching a third successive FIFA World Cup final with a commanding 2-0 semi-final victory.
The European champions booked their place in Sunday’s final after controlling large spells of the contest, with Mikel Oyarzabal’s first-half penalty and Pedro Porro’s superb finish sealing a deserved win.
Mbappe believes France’s inability to disrupt Spain’s midfield rhythm proved decisive, admitting Rodri and Fabián Ruiz were allowed too much freedom to dictate proceedings.
“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 acknowledged that France failed to execute their game plan, while Spain remained faithful to the possession-based style that has made them one of the world’s dominant teams.
“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.”
France struggled to create meaningful openings after falling behind, while Spain remained composed in possession and comfortably saw out the victory.
Mbappe, who finished the tournament with eight goals to draw level with Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot standings, also pointed to his team’s poor ball retention as a major factor behind the defeat.
“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.”
France coach Didier Deschamps introduced Désiré Doué and Rayan Cherki in the second half in an attempt to change the momentum, but Spain maintained control and rarely looked threatened.
Cherki agreed with his captain’s assessment, admitting Spain deserved their place in the final despite insisting France remain one of the world’s strongest teams.
“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.
“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.”
Mbappe’s frustration was evident late in the match when he was booked in the 86th minute after colliding with Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón while attempting to press high.
The France skipper, however, accepted responsibility for the semi-final exit.
“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 the Argentina-England semi-final in Saturday’s third-place play-off, while Spain head into Sunday’s final seeking another World Cup crown.
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