The French press and their coach Deschamps attribute France's defeat to the good performance of the Spanish national team through praise

The Spanish national team has managed to qualify for the grand final of this World Cup, after having clearly overcome the French national team. Despite the French parting as big favorites not only to win the match, but the competition, due to the great tournament they were having, comfortably passing all their rounds. However, they could do nothing in a semifinal against Spain, in which at no time did they manage to impose their rhythm and their game, losing 0-2, and being totally dominated.

The coach of the French national team, Didier Deschamps, in a press conference after the end of the match, praised the Spanish national team, but without forgetting the refereeing.  "Spain is very strong. We were not up to par. We made too many mistakes,  and  also there was the great quality of Spain," Deschamps acknowledged. However, then, he also made some statements against the refereeing of the match, trying to deflect the blame, when the referee has not influenced the result at all. "It's not because we lost, but do you think the referee was up to a semifinal? It's a question. You have to look at the match, not just the penalty, but I'm not going to get into that," he stressed. There were not many words of self-criticism from the French coach, but rather they were praises for Spain: "The opponent was excellent, we didn't know how to read the match and I think the merit is the opponent's."

As for the French press, the tendency is, of course, to criticize their team's performance, but they do so more by praising and exalting Spain, than by criticizing their own team.  One of the most forceful analyses came from Le Monde. The French newspaper highlighted that France returned "to reality" after falling against a superior Spain in all facets of the match. The newspaper also emphasized the excellent moment this generation of Spain is going through, which it defined as a team with the capacity to compete and win with enormous regularity.

In a similar vein, L'Équipe, a reference in sports journalism in France, stated that the French team was outplayed from the start and spoke of a Spanish team that controlled the match thanks to its technical quality and collective dominance.  Its cover was especially significant, with a headline dedicated to an "unstoppable" Spain, reflecting the feeling of superiority that La Roja left.

Aside from the praise and attributing more merit to Spain for the victory than to France for the defeat, French newspapers have also been harsh on some of their stars. Le Figaro, described Kylian Mbappé's performance as disappointing and also pointed out the discreet performance of Michael Olise, two players called to make a difference. Meanwhile, from L'Équipe, they reflect that same disappointment, grading their players, failing all their stars like Mbappé, Olise, and Dembélé, as well as their coach. Looking at the French sports newspapers, one sees some self-criticism, but without a doubt, they attribute their country's defeat to the good work of the Spanish national team.