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France captain after 0-2 defeat against Spain in FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals Kylian Mbappe He openly expressed his disappointment with his team’s performance. Speaking to the media after the match, Mbappe said that France did not play at the level expected in a World Cup semi-final.

He acknowledged that France lagged far behind Spain in tactics, technical performance and overall team play. Mbappe said that if a team does not perform as per its plan in the World Cup semi-finals, it does not deserve to win.

Spain showed superiority in every department

From the beginning of the match, Spain controlled the ball and displayed excellent technical football. France’s aggressive strategy was completely thwarted by Spain. With consistent passing, excellent positioning and a strong hold on the midfield, Spain maintained complete control of the match.

Mbappe admitted that his team could not successfully execute their plan against Spain.

High press strategy failed

According to Mbappe, France’s strategy was to press Spain high from the beginning so that Spain did not get the chance to play their preferred slow and controlled football. But Spain completely foiled France’s plans by placing extra players in midfield.

He said that France repeatedly 3 vs 2 Kept getting stuck in the ball position, making it difficult to maintain control of the ball. For this reason the team could not achieve rhythm in the entire match.

“Our performance was not at the level of the semi-finals”

Mbappe said clearly that the team’s first touch, movement and coordination were not up to the level of the World Cup semi-finals.

He said that when the team performs weak technically and collectively then defeat becomes natural. According to him, Spain played better than France in every important department.

The dream of playing the final remained unfulfilled

With France’s defeat, the dream of winning the World Cup for the second consecutive time was also shattered. Mbappe said that the entire team wanted to take the country to the finals and create history, but this dream remained unfulfilled.

He said that the entire team is extremely disappointed with this defeat and it is not easy to express this disappointment in words.

Now the focus will be on club football

27-year-old Kylian Mbappe, who scored 8 goals throughout the tournament, will now take some time off to prepare for the upcoming club season. He said that both victory and defeat should be accepted with respect.

Mbappe said that now the team will have to learn from this defeat and move forward, because football waits for no one. He expressed confidence that France will come back stronger in the future and will learn from this experience and perform better in the upcoming competitions.