In the third-place match, France slept through the entire first half and found themselves down 0–4. But then came a frantic comeback that culminated in an unprecedented goal-scoring spectacle. A major turnaround never materialized—and yet, for Kylian Mbappé, it may have been a historic evening.
“I can understand if some people were ‘horrified by us’ because of France’s performance in the first half,” Kylian Mbappé openly admitted to MagentaTV after the final whistle of the 4–6 thriller, noting that the Equipe Tricolore had not done the French jersey justice in the first half.
After the break, however, things changed dramatically; suddenly France was on top and closed the gap to 3–4 at one point, thanks in part to two goals by Mbappé. The 27-year-old has brought his goal tally at this World Cup up to ten and now holds a two-goal lead over Lionel Messi, who will still have a chance to strike back in Sunday’s final.
The Real Madrid forward didn’t want to celebrate too soon, though. “I’ve said it before. Leo always scores; he’ll definitely score again tomorrow,” Mbappé said, before showing a bit of pride in what he’s achieved so far. With his two-goal performance, he raised his total World Cup goal tally to 22, overtaking Messi in that category as well.
“When you score that many goals at a World Cup, it obviously means something.” He went on to say that “you can’t become the most prolific scorer in history in a single game,” while also noting that one might look back on this one match against England and realize, “I achieved that on that day.”
However, he deeply regretted how Didier Deschamps’ final game as national team coach turned out. “In the second half, we woke up and played at a higher level again, felt better, and managed to win the second half. Ultimately, though, we didn’t win. That’s obviously a real shame for the coach. We wanted to give him a gift. But unfortunately, we were disappointing in the first half. That’s just how soccer is.”
Mbappé, who had emotionally bid farewell to his departing coach before kickoff, was also certain that this defeat would not “tarnish the legend of Didier Deschamps.” Deschamps himself took the loss in stride, noting in his analysis that the first half was “completely unacceptable,” but also pointing out that the team had “two chances to tie it at 4-4” as the game progressed.
Deschamps Takes the Blame
In the end, however, he took responsibility. “It’s my fault,” said the outgoing national team coach: “We should have done more in the first half.” All in all, however, his overall assessment was mixed. Fourth place was “not so bad,” even if “it’s naturally better to finish third.” After all, the team was able to “give the French fans some positive emotions” throughout the tournament.
After 14 years, Deschamps’ tenure came to an end with this match, and he spoke with a touch of wistfulness. “For me, there’s nothing better in a soccer player’s life than wearing this jersey—and I’ve done that for 25 years,” he said, looking back on his career as a player and coach with the Equipe Tricolore, and expressed optimism about France’s future in soccer. “Of course, there’s disappointment on the field, but with this team, it’s also been a wonderful adventure. It’s a fantastic group, with many young players. We’ll continue to achieve very good results.”
