‘Oga Na Master’: Deschamps Concedes Spain Were Too Good for France

France head coach Didier Deschamps admitted his side were second best after their FIFA World Cup campaign ended with a 2-0 defeat to Spain in Tuesday’s semi-final.

Spain produced a dominant display to secure their place in the final, controlling possession, limiting France’s attacking threats and capitalising on defensive lapses to end Les Bleus’ hopes of reaching a third consecutive World Cup final.

Speaking after the match, Deschamps acknowledged that his players failed to reach their usual standards and credited Spain for their outstanding performance.

“Obviously, this Spain team are very strong and they proved it tonight,” Deschamps said.

“We were slightly below our usual level and made more technical mistakes than in previous matches. We were also a step short physically.”

France entered the semi-final on the back of six consecutive victories but struggled to impose themselves as Spain dominated midfield and restricted the influence of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise.

Deschamps admitted his side needed to deliver their best performance to overcome Spain but fell short in every department.

“We know the quality Spain possess, and to have any chance of going through we needed to be at our absolute best,” he said. “We were not.”

The French coach also pointed to setbacks during the match, including an injury to defender William Saliba and an early booking for Adrien Rabiot, which limited the midfielder’s ability to play aggressively.

Deschamps praised Spain’s tactical discipline, highlighting their ability to anticipate passes, regain possession and disrupt France’s attacking rhythm.

“They are very good at linking their play and reading the direction of passes in order to intercept them,” he said.

“We did not find the solutions. The fact that we failed to reproduce the attacking and technical quality we had shown until now is partly our fault, but Spain also deserve credit for preventing us from doing so.”

Despite the disappointment of missing out on another World Cup final, Deschamps urged perspective, insisting the tournament should not define the progress made by his squad.

“The disappointment is immense,” he said. “This is a group of competitors, and seeing the journey end hurts.

“I do not want to throw away everything we have done, but in this match Spain showed they had something more.”