Kylian Mbappé-led France falls flat in World Cup loss to Spain when hopes for a title were high

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kylian Mbappé had France poised for another run to the World Cup final with a team that seemingly had the offensive firepower to solve Spain's stout defense.

Instead, Les Bleus had no answers in a 2-0 semifinal loss at the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday in what is presumably coach Didier Deschamps' final appearance on soccer's biggest stage.

Deschamps, who has said this would be his last World Cup, won a title as a player in 1998 and again as a coach eight years ago in Russia before leading France to the final in 2022 in Qatar. Argentina won that championship in a penalty shootout.

“I’ve been lucky as a player to enjoy happy moments,” Deschamps said through a translator, while also saying it wasn't yet time to discuss his future. “Today is not such a moment. But I think we must accept it without forgetting everything that we’ve experienced so far. But today’s feeling is that I am not happy.”

The disappointment reverberated from Texas across the Atlantic Ocean. A number of clashes reportedly broke out in Paris, with incidents between law enforcement and young people also reported in Lyon.

French media lamented that their team had been unable to reproduce the exhilarating performances it had delivered while never trailing in its first six World Cup matches.

L’Équipe, France’s leading sports newspaper, noted that Deschamps’ players had been outplayed in every aspect of the game, “unable to live up to their dreams and to the hope they had inspired.”

Those players didn't disagree, although Mbappé was quick to defend his coach, and said he would play hard for Deschamps in the third-place match against the Argentina-England loser on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

“Nothing changed about what Didier means to us as a French people. As a manager, as a player, he wrote an amazing story,” said the France captain, who got a quick hug from his coach on the sideline after the final whistle. “There’s one game left for him, so we’re going to try to play the best game for him because he deserves it, and also the fans deserve to have a win and finish third in this World Cup.”

The dangerous playmaking of Mbappé, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise never showed up in what ended up being Spain's sixth clean sheet in seven World Cup appearances this year.

Mbappé's best chance came in the 67th minute when his shot deflected off Spain defender Marc Cucurella and went just wide. La Roja already had a two-goal lead at that point.

The 27-year-old Mbappé, who entered the day level with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi for the tournament lead in goals with eight, showed some frustration with a yellow card in the 86th minute. He rushed toward Unai Simón just as the Spain goalkeeper was bending over to pick up the ball. The two collided, sending Simón to the grass.

“In so many ways, France was missing everything today,” Rayan Cherki said through a translator. “We’ll be back in four years, and we won’t make the same mistakes.”

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Associated Press writer Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here