France captain Kylian Mbappe believes his side made a tactical error with their selection after failing to fire in their World Cup semi-final against Spain.
The European champions progressed to the showpiece decider with a strong 2-0 win in Dallas, shutting down France’s forward line and controlling much of the game.
Mbappe and the rest of the French attack had been in outstanding form at the tournament, with their skipper still in the mix for the golden boot, but Didier Deschamps’ side lacked fluency and composure in the semi-final.
Spain were particularly dominant in midfield, where Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot were outnumbered and outplayed by Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo.
And Mbappe felt it was a mistake from Deschamps not to add an extra body in that area for the game.
“We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, that’s hard,” Mbappe admitted after the game. “Fabian [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.
“We didn’t play the game we wanted, technically, tactically. When you don’t do what you have to do in a World Cup semifinal, you don’t win. Spain respected their game plan and what the team usually does. They like to control the ball and the tempo. Our plan was to press them high so they could not install their rhythm.
“Because 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.”
France only really threatened late on after Spain had already gone two ahead as Pedro Porro added to Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty.
The encounter marked the end of Deschamps’ time in charge, with Zinedine Zidane expected to succeed the 2022 World Cup-winning manager.
