France captain Kylian Mbappe questioned his side’s tactical approach after their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign ended with a 2-0 semifinal defeat to Spain, admitting Les Bleus failed to execute their game plan and were outplayed in midfield.

Spain secured their place in the final through goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro, while France struggled to impose themselves against the tournament favourites.

“We didn’t play the game we wanted, technically, tactically,” Mbappe said after the match.

“When you don’t do what you have to do in a World Cup semifinal, you don’t win.”

Kylian Mbappe points to midfield battle

The France captain believed Spain’s dominance in midfield proved decisive, with Rodri and Fabian Ruiz controlling possession throughout the contest.

“We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, that’s hard,” Mbappe said.

“Fabian 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.”

France had intended to press Spain aggressively but were unable to disrupt their passing rhythm.

“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.”

Mbappe also admitted France repeatedly squandered promising transitions after regaining possession.

“It is a huge disappointment. But if we are objective, we didn’t put all the ingredients to go to the final.”

France captain accepts responsibility

Mbappe, who received a late yellow card following a collision with Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon, accepted responsibility as captain following the defeat.

“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.”

The Real Madrid forward remains tied with Argentina captain Lionel Messi on eight goals in the race for the Golden Boot heading into the final stages of the tournament.

Cherki: “Spain were better than us”

Manchester City midfielder Rayan Cherki echoed Mbappe’s assessment, admitting France were second best despite backing his side’s overall quality.

“I still believe that we are a better team than them, but this afternoon Spain has been better than us,” Cherki said.

“France was missing everything today. Truly, everything was missing today. We’ll be back in four years, and we won’t make the same mistakes.”

France will now face the loser of the second semifinal between England and Argentina in the third-place playoff, while Spain will compete in the FIFA World Cup 2026 final.