Although it was not the fairytale ending many had anticipated, Didier Deschamps will conclude his legendary stint leading the French national team without securing a third straight appearance in the World Cup final. His celebrated leadership era commenced with a glorious World Cup victory in 2018, followed by a deeply painful defeat against Lionel Messi and Argentina in the dramatic 2022 final. While Les Bleus seemed poised to challenge for the ultimate trophy once more, the Spanish side put an end to their ambitions with a convincing two to zero semi final win in Dallas this past Tuesday.
The World Cup campaign for the French team is not completely finished, however. Les Bleus will return to the pitch to contest the third place playoff this coming Saturday.
Following the defeat, Deschamps stopped short of directly blaming the referee for France’s exit, but he made it clear that he was highly dissatisfied with the performance of Salvadoran official Ivan Arcides Barton Cisneros. It was not just the first half penalty awarded to Spain that frustrated him, he suggested, but the overall standard of officiating throughout the entire contest.
“If I say anything, I’ll look like a sore loser because we lost,” Deschamps told reporters. “But I ask you: is the referee up to the task of officiating a semifinal? There’s the penalty, but that’s not all; it adds to everything else. I have nothing against the referee tonight, but ask yourselves the question.”
Tactical Review of Spain’s Dominance
The decisive breakthrough came in the 22nd minute of play when Lamine Yamal earned a penalty after being kicked by Lucas Digne inside the box. Digne had miscontrolled the ball while attempting to clear it, allowing Yamal to nip in front before the France defender caught him. Mikel Oyarzabal stepped up to take the spot kick, converting it calmly to hand Spain the opening lead.
Despite his deep frustration with the officiating, Deschamps admitted that the French side simply was not good enough on the night as they suffered their third successive defeat to Spain, following losses at Euro 2024 and the 2025 UEFA Nations League.
“To have any hope, we needed to be at our best,” he said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t.”
Spain doubled their advantage in the 58th minute of play through Pedro Porro after Dani Olmo carved open the French defense. By then, La Roja had already attempted eight shots to France’s two and won nearly 60 percent of all duels.
France eventually finished the match with 10 attempts, but only one of those came from inside 13 meters of the goal, and just three managed to test the goalkeeper. Their very first shot on target did not arrive until the 81st minute. Adding to their offensive struggles, Golden Boot frontrunner Kylian Mbappe failed to register a single shot on target throughout the match.
“Today Spain defended extremely well,” Deschamps said. “They left us very little space. On top of that, because we made technical mistakes, it became difficult to create problems for them. Our technical level was below what we’d shown in previous matches.”
Deschamps’ 14 year tenure as France manager will now conclude with Saturday’s third place playoff against the loser of Wednesday’s semi final match between England and Argentina.
His tenure
After nearly 15 years in charge, highlighted by a World Cup title in 2018, France coach Didier Deschamps is departing Les Bleus following the team’s exit from the 2026 tournament, a decision he had officially announced well before the World Cup began. Deschamps became France’s manager after Euro 2012 and oversaw the team at the 2014 World Cup (quarterfinals), Euro 2016 (runners up), 2018 World Cup (champions), Euro 2020 (round of 16), 2022 World Cup (runners up), and Euro 2024 (semifinals).
Deschamps, who won the 1998 World Cup as a player for France, is one of only three people to earn the championship as both a player and coach, along with Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer. Deschamps made 103 appearances for the French national team from 1989 to 2000, calling it quits after captaining his country to victory in Euro 2000.
Deschamps’ 20 World Cup victories as a coach are the most in the history of soccer.
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