Kylian Mbappe says the France dressing room is ‘Pissed off’ after being knocked out of the Nations League semi-finals by Spain.
Les Bleus lost a 5-4 thriller in which Mbappe bagged from the spot, but it was not enough to overcome the European champions.
In fact, France were 5-1 down with 23 minutes to play, before some inspired substitutions threatened to turn the game in France’s favour.
But they eventually fell short, leaving Mbappe, on his return to the national set-up, annoyed.
Speaking after the game, he said: “I didn’t agree with the referee about the actual playing time, but if I talk about it, people will think I’m angry. When there are five minutes, you have to play for five minutes.”
“In the heat of the moment, I’d say we played well. We had some stretches of play we haven’t had for a while. We had a 10-minute gap in the first half and we conceded two goals, and the same thing in the second half. We weren’t consistent over the 90 minutes, but we did get better.”
Malgré une fin de match complètement folle, nos Bleus s’inclinent d’un but ce soir face à l’Espagne…
RDV dimanche à 15h face à l’Allemagne 🇩🇪 pour la petite-finale de cette Ligue des Nations. #ESPFRA #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/a7jwdhroui
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) June 5, 2025
“Experimental defence? It’s no excuse, we’re top-level players. But it’s not all negative. We’re pissed off, that’s for sure. We’re frustrated.”
Deschamps echoed the words of his captain, who field a front four of the Real Madrid star, Champions League winners Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, as well as Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise.
He felt his side were unfortunate to concede five goals but admits they were far from perfect on the night.
Deschamps added: “It’s a mixture of feelings. At the end of the first half, it’s harsh to be down 2-0 because we had a lot of chances.
“We were down 5-1, but we didn’t give up. We can’t throw everything away; we did a lot of good things. We had better control than this Spanish team. If we concede five goals, it’s because we can do better defensively, but it’s frustrating. As soon as they have a chance, they are often very effective.
“The quality of the opposition leads to mistakes, but when there are goals, we can always do better.
“I’m not going to blame just the defenders because they found themselves one-on-one.
“I try to be clear-headed, there’s no need to throw everything away. When you concede five goals, it’s because you haven’t done everything right. That’s the very highest level.”
Spain will now go on to face Portugal in the final on Sunday, with France left to watch on at what could have been.
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