Mbappe admits France's midfield gamble cost them in 2-0 World Cup semi-final loss to Spain

Kylian Mbappe has admitted that a tactical miscalculation in midfield was the decisive factor in France’s 2-0 World Cup semi-final defeat to Spain in Dallas, a result that ended Didier Deschamps’ reign as manager.

Spain controlled the contest from the outset, with Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo dominating a French midfield pairing of Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot. Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty and a late strike from Pedro Porro sealed a comfortable victory for the European champions.

“We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, that’s hard,” Mbappe said after the game. “Fabian [Ruiz] 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 France captain, who had been among the tournament’s standout performers and remained in contention for the Golden Boot heading into the semi-final, acknowledged that his side failed to execute their intended game plan at the critical moment.

“We didn’t play the game we wanted, technically, tactically,” he added. “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 offered little going forward for the majority of the match, only beginning to threaten once Spain had already established their two-goal cushion.

The defeat brings the curtain down on Deschamps’ long tenure as France manager, with Zinedine Zidane widely expected to take over from the man who led the side to World Cup glory in 2018.