France entered the 2026 FIFA World Cup as one of the hot favourites to go all the way. And, they were on course to achieve that. That was, until Spain happened. A 2-0 semi-final defeat against the European champions ended Les Bleus’ World Cup hopes and in some ways exposed cracks that had been papered over by individual brilliance.
It was a shocking defeat in many respects, especially for a team that football betting odds had, at least for a while, installed as the favourites to win the tournament. France had been the beaten finalists in 2022 after all, losing on penalties in a game that saw Kylian Mbappé register a hat trick.
Against Spain, France were never in the tie. Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Lucas Digne caught Lamine Yamal in the box. Pedro Porro added a second after the break following a slick one-two with Dani Olmo, which killed the game as a contest. Didier Deschamps’ side ended the match with an xG of just 0.3, which was telling for a side built around what it can do at the top of the pitch.
Spain’s Midfield Wall
The result hinged on Spain’s ability to dominate the ball and press as soon as they lost possession. France’s central midfield pairing of Adrien Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni, with Manu Koné replacing Rabiot at half-time, were outfought and outmanoeuvred, and starved of support from a defensive unit selected to defend rather than be progressive. This imbalance meant that France’s forward line didn’t get the service that it’d received in previous games. Rodri, in particular, put in a vintage display, breaking up attacks and being a presence in the middle.
The Fantastic Four Go Missing
France’s tournament up until the semi-finals had been built on what Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and either Bradley Barcola or Désiré Doué, depending on who Deschamps went with, could do in the final third. However, against Spain, all of them failed to show up. Mbappé was isolated; Dembélé, the current Ballon d’Or holder, didn’t make an impact; Olise looked nervous; and both Barcola and Doué, with the latter coming on as a substitute for the former, failed to utilise their pace. Not only did they lack service, but they also lacked invention, creativity and any sort of threat.
Deschamps Runs Out Of Ideas And Time
Deschamps built his system around giving the players at the top of the pitch freedom, trusting that they’d come up with the goods to win games for France. And while it worked for the most part, when Les Bleus came up against Spain, a team capable of dominating the ball and denying France space in the final third, there was no plan B. Deschamps, who has managed France since 2012, guiding them to the 2018 World Cup, now leaves the job and will be replaced by Zinedine Zidane.
Conclusion
After lifting the 2018 World Cup, France has endured two successive disappointments in the tournament, losing the final in 2022 and now the semi-final this year. However, while it will sting for a while, Zidane will take a lot from watching how things played out ahead of taking over. He will know that you can’t exclusively rely on your attacking players and will set out to create a new identity from the get-go.
