France 2-0 Spain: Deschamps takes responsibility for failure and criticizes refereeing

"We were below par technically"

World Cup 2026 14 July 2026 at 18:53

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France 2-0 Spain: Deschamps takes responsibility for failure and criticizes refereeing

14.07.26 FT World Cup

France

Spain

After being knocked out 2-0 in the semi-final by Spain, France exits the 2026 World Cup. After the final whistle, Didier Deschamps delivered a frank and charged reaction.

Deschamps started by putting the blame on his squad, not shying away from his responsibilities. "The players are devastated, but we have to be realistic. We were below par technically. That’s on us," he admitted.

🗣️ Didier Deschamps 🇫🇷: "Now, I’ll ask you, and I won’t answer the question: I don’t want to sound like I’m just complaining because we lost, but was tonight’s referee at the standard of a World Cup semi-final?" pic.twitter.com/XAYrU8s0I0
— Mercato Blaugrana (@MercatoBlaugra) July 14, 2026

The Les Bleus coach then addressed the costly mistakes that undermined his side. Misplaced passes and poor tactical choices denied France any real chances against La Roja.

Nevertheless, Deschamps didn’t miss the opportunity to take aim at the refereeing, questioning the level required to officiate a World Cup semi-final. "I’ll put the question out there: was the referee up to the standard for a semi-final? I won’t answer that. There were a lot of controversial incidents."