French Media Lay Into Les Bleus After Spain End World Cup Bid

• Spain beat France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final
• L’Equipe dishes out 2/10 to Olise, Digne and Dembele; Mbappe gets 3/10
• Spain to face England or Argentina in Sunday’s showpiece

Spain were streetwise, stubborn and sharp; France were anything but. In a semi-final loaded with pedigree, Luis de la Fuente’s European champions strangled the life out of Les Bleus and marched to the World Cup final. The market had France among the favourites on the football betting sites UK, but once the whistle went, Spain’s control told.

Spanish Steel and a Blunt French Edge

It was clinical from La Roja: Mikel Oyarzabal tucked away a first-half penalty before Pedro Porro added a ruthless second. From there, Spain managed the game with icy composure, squeezing space and starving France’s forwards. Kylian Mbappe found himself isolated too often, drifting wide and trying to force the issue as France’s attacks broke down.

Spain now await England or Argentina in Sunday’s final, and on this evidence they’ll fancy themselves against either. The energy, the press, the control—this was a performance that looked every inch a champion’s display.

French Press Pull No Punches

Back home, the verdict was savage. L’Equipe splashed a downbeat front page featuring a dejected Mbappe and questioned his star turn on the night, while Le Parisien spoke of a dramatic comedown. Le Figaro framed it as a dream ended; regional outlets called it a brutal reality check for Les Bleus.

The player ratings were equally unforgiving. Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne and PSG’s Ousmane Dembele were each hit with 2/10. Digne, in particular, came under fire for the penalty conceded after clattering Lamine Yamal while attempting to control the ball. Olise, excellent earlier in the tournament, couldn’t hit the same heights here, and Dembele never found rhythm in any of the roles he was asked to fill.

Mbappe himself was marked at 3/10 amid assessments that he looked isolated and overburdened. The captain didn’t hide afterwards, admitting France made too many technical errors and never found a way to swing the game back in their favour. In truth, Spain didn’t just outplay France—they out-thought them. And that, more than anything, is what will sting Les Bleus when they look back at a semi-final that slipped away without a fight.

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