Kylian Mbappe slams 'sloppy' France for missing out on World Cup final

Kylian Mbappe slammed France's "sloppy" performance in the 2-0 defeat to Spain, a result that denied Les Bleus a place in Sunday's World Cup final. France were bidding to reach a third consecutive World Cup final having reached the championship game at Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. However, captain Mbappe pointed to breakdowns in both the game plan and its execution for their Spain defeat . Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot midway through the first half while Pedro Porro finished off a flowing move on 58 minutes to send Spain through to their first final in 16 years. Spain consistently created an extra man in midfield, leaving Rodri and Fabian Ruiz with the time and space to dictate possession. "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 forced them to run with us." France entered the semi-final as the best attacking team at the tournament, with 16 goals scored in six matches – all victories. Mbappe had scored eight of them. But France were blunted as an attacking threat, failing to register an attempt at goal until a wayward free kick deep into time added on. Mbappe said France had planned to apply pressure high up the field and prevent Spain from settling into their preferred possession game. Instead, Spain regularly played through the press and quickly recovered the ball whenever France briefly regained it. "We didn't play the game we wanted, technically, tactically," Mbappe said. "When you don't do what you have to do in a World Cup semi-final, you don't win." The Real Madrid forward also criticised France's work with the ball, saying poor first touches and missed opportunities prevented his team from testing Spain when openings appeared. "We were too sloppy technically," Mbappe said. "We could not hurt them when we could have." France coach Didier Deschamps tried to shift the match by removing Adrien Rabiot at half-time and later introducing Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki. The changes did little to disrupt Spain's control, and Mbappe was held scoreless after entering the match with eight tournament goals. He remains tied with Argentina's Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot . Mbappe also scored eight goals at the 2022 World Cup, when France lost the final to Argentina in a penalty shootout. "As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that," Mbappe said. "We wanted to go to the final. We didn't go." France will face the loser of Wednesday's England-Argentina semi-final in Saturday's third-place match in Florida. Spain face the winner of that match at MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey, looking to win the World Cup for the first time in 16 years. It would cap a sensational first tournament for head coach Luis de la Fuente, who also guided La Roja to the Euro 2024 title. “We started almost four years ago with an idea, and we’ve been faithful to that idea and it’s brought us here," De la Fuente told RTVE. "Today we faced one of the best national teams in the world, but in front of them they had the best team in the world. That is the difference. These players deserve everything." Spain took the lead on 22 minutes when Lucas Digne was penalised for a foul on Lamine Yamal . There was a suggestion that Yamal had handled the ball as he was kicked by the French full-back. However, as per the rules, because Lamal connected with the ball with his upper arm (above the sleeve ending), referee Ivan Barton pointed to the spot and Oyarzabal converted for his fifth goal of the tournament. It was the Real Sociedad striker's 18th goal in his past 20 matches for Spain. It also made him only the sixth Spanish player to reach 30 international goals. Defender Porro had never scored for his country before this tournament. Having netted in the Round-of-32 win over Austria, he scored his second goal in 22 caps when he played a neat one-two with Dani Olmo and slotted the ball past Mike Maignan. “It’s a dream come true. It’s honestly beyond my wildest dreams," said the Tottenham defender. "I think we played a great game, did everything we had to do to reach the final. We knew we were up against a really, really tough team. This is the team’s achievement, not mine at all."

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