Arlington, July 15 (). France suffered a 0-2 defeat against Spain in the first semi-final match of the FIFA World Cup 2026. After this defeat, the team’s head coach Didier Deschamps admitted that France completely failed to give its best performance.
The coach said that France neither looked effective in attack nor could play technically at its normal level. According to Deschamps, France suffered the consequences of not playing their attacking game in the semi-finals. With this defeat, France’s wonderful knockout record was also broken. This is the first time that France has faced defeat in a World Cup knockout match since their quarter-final loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup. Earlier, the team had remained unbeaten in 11 consecutive knockout matches, which included 10 wins and one draw.
After the match, Deschamps said that the entire team was extremely disappointed by this defeat because everyone’s eyes were on the final. He said, “Obviously we are very disappointed. Our aim was to reach the final, but we have to recognize that Spain completely controlled the match. The players are very sad because our expectations were very high. However, we have to recognize that technically we were a little below our usual level and were facing a team that really controlled the game.
“It’s mainly our own fault. We didn’t perform as well as we expected and weren’t as dangerous in attack as we could have been. We made some technical mistakes in passing that could have created goalscoring opportunities. That’s the truth at the elite level, although it’s sad. We didn’t play football the way we like to play, and we paid for it.”
In this match played at Dallas Stadium, Spain took a 1-0 lead with the help of a penalty by Mikel Oyarzabal in the 22nd minute. After this, in the second half, Pedro Porro scored another goal and increased the team’s lead to 2-0. After this, France could not return to the match. When asked if France had been taught a footballing lesson, Deschamps acknowledged the quality of Luis de la Fuente’s team while also lamenting his team’s technical shortcomings.
He said, “Spain is a very strong team and the players proved that again in this match. We did not perform at our usual level. We made more technical mistakes than in our previous matches. The players did everything possible to prepare, but we certainly could not perform at our best.”
Deschamps said that Spain’s strong defense did not give France’s star player Kylian Mbappe a chance to play freely. He admitted that when both the team’s attack and technical game weaken, it becomes very difficult to win against strong opposition. “Spain played excellent defense and gave us very little space. We couldn’t find the right solutions and our technical mistakes made it more difficult for us,” he said.
France suffered another blow during the match when central defender William Saliba got injured and left the field in the first half. Maxence Lacroix was fielded in his place. On this change, Deschamps said, “It was my decision. Saliba was injured and I did not want to take additional risks with another player. It felt like the right decision at the time.”
Now the French team will play the playoff match for third place. At the same time, Deschamps was also asked questions about his future. He had said last year that he would leave the post of coach after this World Cup, but at this time he refused to say anything on this subject.
He said, “Now is not the right time to talk about it. I am proud of the achievements of this team. We won the World Cup in 2018, played the final in 2022 and now reached the semi-finals again. Today we have to accept our defeat and congratulate Spain for a better performance. This is the reality of top level football.”
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SM/AS
