France skipper Kylian Mbappe has admitted that the players let head coach Didier Deschamps down in their FIFA 2026 World Cup third-place match against England on Saturday, www,aclsports.com reports.
England overcame France in the ultimate game of two halves in the bronze final of the FIFA World Cup 2026. England thumped France in the first half with goals from Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa, and a Bukayo Saka brace to send Thomas Tuchel’s team in 4-0 up at the break.
After the break, Les Blues showed some real character to score three goals in the opening 25 minutes of the second half. Michael Olise’s pass enabled Kylian Mbappe to get them on the board, and the Real Madrid forward set up Bradley Barcola to further decrease the deficit. Mbappe then pulled Les Bleus within one.
England then got some breathing space again when Saka scored from the spot to complete his hat-trick and give his side a two-goal cushion. Only for Ousmane Dembele to get France within one again. However, England’s player of the tournament had the final say, though, Bellingham dribbling past multiple bodies to seal victory 6-4 in one of the greatest matches the World Cup has ever seen.
Mbappe, speaking after the game, admitted that the side did not do well in the opening half, even as they tried to get a win for the departing Deschamps in his final World Cup match.
“There were two very different halves. During the first one, I can understand why some people think we made fools of ourselves and didn’t do the jersey justice. I’d say instead that we were human—and we can’t afford to be. We were completely stunned, and they really shook us awake,” Mbappe told FIFA after the contest.
”In the second half, we went back to being top-level players, mental machines. In the end, we didn’t win, and that’s a shame for the coach [Didier Deschamps]. We wanted to do something for him. The first half gives the impression that we let him down—that’s not at all how we wanted him to feel. That match isn’t going to tarnish Didier Deschamps’ legacy,” the forward concluded.
Kylian Mbappe has hit 10 goals in eight outings in North America. The only men with more in a World Cup are Sandor Kocsis with 11 for Hungary in 1954 and Just Fontaine with 13 for France in 1958.
