Rabiot substituted at half-time on yellow card: Deschamps heavily criticized after France's elimination

France has been eliminated from the World Cup after a 2-0 defeat to Spain in the semi-final, and Didier Deschamps’ decision to replace Adrien Rabiot at half-time is now the focus of intense scrutiny. Booked in the first half, the midfielder was replaced by Manu Koné without any change in the match’s trajectory.

Deschamps justified his choice at the break: “Adrien received a yellow card and he was close to getting a second one. It’s difficult for a midfielder with such intensity, in such a match, to be able to play freely and make interventions.” An argument that failed to convince observers.

On L’Équipe du Soir, Johan Micoud was blunt. “You can’t have this reasoning when you’re playing a World Cup semi-final. You have your player, you take him off because he has a yellow. I can accept anything, but not that. In the first half, you’re playing terribly, and you have one player who makes two or three decisive contributions, who’s present in the match, and you take him off.”

Journalist Julien Laurens was even harsher. “Everything disappointed me. Deschamps disappointed me in his pre-match choices. Rabiot comes off because he has a yellow card… for me that’s scandalous. He’s your only player who’s performing at the level with Upamecano in that first half, he wins seven or eight duels. For me, he got it wrong from start to finish.”

L’Équipe draws a similar conclusion, in more measured tones: the newspaper notes that Rabiot “had made a very strong start to the match, with the personality of a leader, tough duels and plenty of recovered balls,” and that the Blues, already trailing, “needed to follow his lead” rather than suffer “the apathy embodied by Tchouaméni, trapped in an overly restrictive conception of his role.”

The elimination ends France’s hopes of a third consecutive final and reignites debate over Deschamps’ tactical management in major tournaments.