Deschamps questions referee's World Cup credentials after France fall to Spain in semi-final

Didier Deschamps publicly questioned FIFA’s appointment of referee Ivan Barton after France were eliminated from the World Cup at the semi-final stage, beaten 2-0 by Spain through goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro.

The France manager’s frustration centred on Barton’s first-half decision to award Spain a penalty after Lucas Digne caught Lamine Yamal while attempting to clear the ball. Rather than directly criticise the official, Deschamps posed the question to reporters in his post-match press conference, asking whether they believed Barton had the quality to officiate at that level.

“I’m not going to answer it,” Deschamps said. “Is the referee good enough to officiate a World Cup semi-final? That’s for you to decide. I had fourth and fifth place referees next to me who were just as good. It’s not just the penalty, it’s a combination of factors. We’ve had more or less complicated situations in other matches.”

Deschamps was nonetheless willing to acknowledge France’s own shortcomings. “Although we have to be realistic and acknowledge that today we were a step below technically against a team that knew what they were doing,” he said. “It’s primarily our fault. We made a few technical errors and missed passes that could have led to situations and chances.”

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente pushed back on the suggestion that refereeing had played a decisive role. “When things don’t go our way, we can always find some excuse,” he said. “I have certainly had some difficult times with the refereeing too. I believe that you have to keep an eye on games and not let them get out of hand.”

The defeat ends France’s bid for a second World Cup title under Deschamps, who led the nation to glory in 2018. Spain advance to Sunday’s final, where they will face either England or Argentina. France will contest the third-place play-off.