France brought back Bradley Barcola and Aurélien Tchouaméni against an unchanged Spain side, then lost on July 14 as Kylian Mbappe blamed technical errors and Didier Deschamps faced criticism over his in-game management.
France started Bradley Barcola and Aurélien Tchouaméni against an unchanged Spain side in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, but lost on July 14. After the defeat, Kylian Mbappe said France made too many technical mistakes, citing sloppy passing and poor first touches, and said the team did not meet the standard required for a World Cup semi-final. Didier Deschamps also faced criticism over his management against Spain, including media and fan backlash over a halftime substitution involving Adrien Rabiot and Manu Koné, as scrutiny intensified over France’s underwhelming tournament performances. Before the match, France had been seeking a third straight World Cup final while Spain was chasing its first final since 2010. The game was also watched in a prediction market on whether France would be the furthest advancing UEFA nation, where YES had been priced at 47% before the result.