The France striker admitted that Spain controlled the match in the semi-final in Dallas and was made to pay for their mistakes.
Published July 15, 2026
France captain Kylian Mbappé has criticized his team’s tactical and technical mistakes after Les Bleus lost 2-0 to Spain in Dallas, missing out on a place in the World Cup finals.
After Tuesday’s match, Mbappé, who was aiming for a third consecutive World Cup finals appearance, expressed his dissatisfaction with France’s performance in the match.
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“I don’t think we played the game that we wanted to play, tactically, technically and in terms of the overall level of performance,” Mbappe told French broadcaster M6.
“And if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do in the World Cup semi-finals, you’re not going to win.
“Our goal was to press them high up the pitch to prevent them from settling into a slow and controlled rhythm, because in terms of controlling the game they are better than us. We were not able to do that,” added the Real Madrid star.
Mbappé emerged as one of the stars of the tournament during France’s run to the last four, scoring eight goals at the tip of a free-scoring attack to the delight of fans around the world.
But the 27-year-old’s dreams of reaching the World Cup finals came to an abrupt end when Spain defeated Les Bleus at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“Big disappointment”
Mbappe pinpointed the heart of the midfield problem, where the French duo of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Choameny were quickly overwhelmed by the Spanish triumvirate of Rodri, Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz.
“We kept finding ourselves outnumbered in the midfield, 3-2,” Mbappe said. “And against Spain, that’s a big problem… When you put everything together, the result is a defeat. Very disappointing.”
Mbappé said the French team is determined to bounce back after learning the lessons of the defeat.
“It was a dream for us to reach the final and give our country a chance to keep dreaming and make history,” he said.
“Right now, we have to fight with our hearts held high. When we win, we hold our hearts high when we win, and when we lose, we have to fight with our hearts held high. So even when we lose, we have to fight with our hearts held high.”
“But right now I’m very disappointed. It’s hard to put into words how disappointed the team and I are.”
“Still, we have to pick ourselves up, go on vacation and move on to the next chapter, even if it may seem a little robotic at times, because football waits for no one. We have to start over, forget this mistake and learn from it.”
