16/07/2026

SPORTS THURSDAY | JULY 16, 2026

29

Deschamps’ golden Les Bleus era ends but legacy intact THE end of coach Didier Deschamps’ Midas-like reign turned into a Tantalus torment as France suffered a comprehensive World Cup semifinal defeat by Spain, but Les Bleus ’ recent heart breaks will not tarnish an unprecedented leg acy. France lost the 2022 World Cup final to Argentina and have now fallen to Spain in three straight major semifinals, at Euro 2024, the Nations League and yesterday’s 2-0 World Cup defeat. Yet Deschamps, who took charge in 2012 with French football still scarred by their mutiny and humiliation at the World Cup in South Africa two years earlier, will be remembered above all as the coach who led France to their second world title in 2018, two decades after captaining them to their first on home soil. With a record 20 World Cup victories as a coach, he took France to the global semifinals at three straight tournaments, reaching the final twice, and established them as international football’s most consistent major-tournament force. Sunday’s third-place playoff will provide an anticlimactic farewell for the 57-year-old, who announced last year that he would leave when his contract expired after the tournament. His successor – former France teammate Zinedine Zidane has long been the favourite – will inherit a gifted squad but a familiar chal lenge: turning perhaps the deepest talent pool in the country’s history into the winning machine it should be. Deschamps’ teams were rarely associated with flamboyance. He was sometimes criticised for favouring balance, discipline and efficiency over spectacle, even when blessed with some of the most gifted attacking players in world football. But results repeatedly justified his meth ods. He took France to the 2014 World Cup quar terfinals, where they lost narrowly to eventual champions Germany, before guiding the hosts to the Euro 2016 final. Defeat by Portugal in extra-time was painful but laid the foundations for becoming world champions in Russia two years later. France beat Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 final, making Deschamps the third man after Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer to win the World Cup as a player and coach. They added the Nations League title in 2021 and came within a penalty shootout of retaining the World Cup in Qatar, recovering from a dreadful opening 80 minutes to draw 3-3 with Argentina in one of the tournament’s greatest games. Those achievements gave Deschamps a reservoir of credit few coaches could match. He survived the fallout from France’s disap pointing Euro 2020 campaign, recurring debates over his cautious football and the long, divisive exile of striker Karim Benzema. His authority remained intact because he kept building teams capable of going deep into tournaments. Eric Cantona once dismissively described him as a “water carrier”, but the label came to cap ture the qualities that defined Deschamps: disci pline, intelligence, selflessness and an instinctive understanding of what winning teams required. His critics argued that France’s talent pool demanded more expansive football. His response was generally the same: tournaments were won through adaptability, defensive resil ience and an acceptance that style mattered less than survival. For more than a decade, the argument was difficult to counter. The manner of yesterday’s defeat will nevertheless sting. France arrived as favourites after their attacking firepower had carried them through the tournament, only to be outclassed techni cally, tactically and physically by Spain in Dallas. “I do not want to throw away everything we have done,” Deschamps said after the defeat. “But in this match Spain showed they had some thing more.” – Reuters

France coach crest fallen after chastening World Cup loss

F RANCE COACH Didier 2-0 in yesterday’s World Cup semi final, exposing technical, tactical and physical failings in a disap pointing end to their quest for a third title. France, widely regarded as one of the pre-tournament favourites, were second best throughout as Spain controlled midfield, cut off supply to Kylian Mbappe and pun ished a succession of French errors. “Obviously, this Spain team are very strong and they proved it tonight,” Deschamps told a press conference. “We were slightly below our usual level and made more techni cal mistakes than in previous matches. We were also a step short physically.” France had reached the last four on the strength of a fearsome attack, but Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Mbappe were all kept quiet as Spain denied them space and repeatedly regained pos session. Deschamps said his team had needed to operate at full capacity to trouble Spain but had fallen short in every key area. “We know the quality Spain pos sess, and to have any chance of going through we needed to be at our absolute best,” he said. “We were not.” France were also disrupted by an injury to defender William Saliba, while Adrien Rabiot had to temper his aggression after being booked early in the game. Deschamps said Spain’s ability Deschamps (pic) conceded his side had been outclassed after Spain dismantled them

to read passing lanes and break up attacks had prevented France from establishing any 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.” The defeat ended France’s hopes of reaching a third successive World Cup final, four years after they lost to Argentina on penalties in Qatar. Deschamps said the players had been devastated in the dressing room but refused to dismiss the progress they had made during the tournament. “The disappointment is immense,” he said. “This is a group of competitors, and seeing the jour ney end hurts. “I do not want to throw away everything we have done, but in this match Spain showed they had something more.” Deschamps also questioned the standard of the refereeing, saying several decisions had been open to debate and asking whether Salvadoran Ivan Barton had been up to the level required for a World Cup semifinal. “The fourth and the fifth official were top level, I chatted with them on the sideline,” the coach said. “But the field referee… I won’t say anything but I’m asking you: did he have the level for a World Cup semifinal?” – Reuters

‘We were second best’

Mbappe rues end of WC dream KYLIAN MBAPPE rued the end of France’s World Cup dream yester day, blaming tactical and technical blunders for his side’s 2-0 semifinal defeat to France. selves over-run by Spain’s triumvi rate of Rodri, Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz.

disappointment. I find it hard to put into words just how disappointed the squad and I are. “Yet even if it might seem a bit robotic at times, we have to pick ourselves up, go on vacation, and move on to the next chapter. Because football waits for no one. We have to start over, put this failure behind us, and learn from it.” – AFP

“We kept finding ourselves out numbered 3-on-2 in midfield,” Mbappe said. “And against Spain, that’s a real problem… When you put it all together, the result is a defeat. It’s a huge disappointment.” Mbappe said France’s crestfallen squad were determined to bounce back after digesting the lessons of the loss. “It was a dream for us to reach the final, to give

Mbappe had emerged as one of the stars of the tournament during France’s run to the last four, rattling in eight goals at the tip of a free-scor ing attack that delighted fans world wide. But the 27-year-old French cap tain’s dreams of a third straight World Cup final appearance ended abruptly as Spain outplayed Les Bleus at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Mbappe told French broadcaster M6 that the loss had been a “huge disappointment” for the French squad. “I don’t think we played the match we wanted to play – whether tacti cally, technically, or in terms of our overall performance level,” Mbappe said. “And when you don’t do what you’re supposed to do in a World Cup semifinal, you don’t win,” the Real Madrid star added. “Our goal was to press them high up the pitch to prevent them from settling into that slow, controlled rhythm – because when it comes to controlling the game, they are better than us. We failed to do that.” Mbappe pinpointed the crux of the problem in midfield, where France’s duo of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni rapidly found them

our country the chance to keep dreaming and to make history,” he

said.

“Now, it is something we have to

face with our heads held high. I believe that when you win, you win with your head held high; so when you lose, you have to lose with your head held high, too. “But right now, there is immense

France’s Kylian Mbappe reacts after defeat to Spain in the World Cup semifinal at Dallas Stadium in Arlington yesterday. – REUTERSPIC