Kylian Mbappe did not hide behind excuses. He looked at what happened in Arlington on Tuesday night and called it exactly what it was, a failure in every area of the game.France’s 2-0 defeat to Spain in the World Cup semifinal was as comprehensive as any scoreline could suggest, and Mbappé held scoreless on the night and unable to add to his eight tournament goals, was brutally honest about where it went wrong. And his words appeared to point directly at his manager Didier Deschamps.“We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, that’s hard,” Mbappé said after the match. “Fabián 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 frustration went deeper than just tactical setup. Mbappé was critical of France’s technical execution throughout, admitting the players themselves were equally to blame for the defeat.“We didn’t play the game we wanted, technically, tactically,” he said. “When you don’t do what you have to do in a World Cup semifinal, you don’t win. Spain respected their game plan. Our plan was to press them high so they could not install their rhythm. We didn’t manage to do it. We were too sloppy technically. We could not hurt them when we could have.”Even when France recovered the ball, Mbappé admitted the first touches were not good enough, gifting possession straight back to a Spain side that punished every mistake ruthlessly. Oyarzabal’s penalty after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal gave Spain the lead, and Pedro Porro’s second-half strike put the result beyond doubt.Young substitute Rayan Cherki was equally damning. “In so many ways, France was missing everything today. Truly, everything was missing today,” the Manchester City attacker said.Mbappé, who earned a yellow card in the 86th minute after colliding with goalkeeper Unai Simón, ultimately accepted the responsibility that comes with the captaincy. “As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that,” he said. “We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”France will now face the loser of Thursday’s Argentina vs England semifinal in the third-place play-off on Saturday in Miami. For a team that arrived as tournament favourites, it is a deeply humbling ending.
