At halftime of France’s World Cup semifinal against Spain, Ousmane Dembélé reportedly raised concerns about the team’s pressing strategy in the dressing room. France trailed 1-0 after Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty in the 22nd minute. Dembélé addressed his teammates, L’Équipe reported. His comments irritated several players rather than uniting the group; they felt he was partly responsible for the ineffective pressure on the pitch.
Some squad members questioned whether Dembélé was in a position to criticize, given his own performance. The tension in the locker room failed to produce the desired reaction, and France struggled to regain control in the second half. Spain doubled its lead in the 58th minute, when Pedro Porro finished a move set up by Dani Olmo, securing a 2-0 victory and a place in the final. Porro was substituted for Marcos Llorente in the 84th minute.
After the match, Kylian Mbappé echoed concerns about France’s pressing, saying in comments to M6 that the team’s inability to disrupt Spain’s midfield play was a basic factor in its elimination. He acknowledged that Spain had executed its game plan effectively, while France had given Spanish midfielders too much space and time to dictate play. ESPN’s tournament scoring table listed Mbappé with eight goals and Dembélé with six; Oyarzabal had five, while Porro had two.
The defeat sent France into the third-place playoff against England, while Spain advanced to face Argentina in the final. France coach Didier Deschamps acknowledged the obligation to play for third place, saying: “We do have a match for the third place playoff, and there’s a duty.” England had lost its semifinal to Argentina, as covered in recent coverage of the England-Argentina clash.
France’s inability to contain Spain’s midfield reflects a recurring challenge for top teams in international tournaments, where tactical cohesion and dressing-room unity can prove decisive. The reported episode involving Dembélé shows how disagreements over a team’s approach can complicate its response under pressure. France must now regroup for the third-place match, with the missed chance to reach the final still fresh. Deschamps framed the playoff as a sporting responsibility, even as the tournament’s basic prize moved out of reach.
The semifinal brought together two pairs of the four teams the Associated Press identified as entering the tournament at the top of FIFA’s rankings: Argentina and Spain, alongside France and England. France and Spain had last met in a major tournament at the European Championship two years earlier. Oyarzabal, who had scored four goals before the semifinal, opened the scoring from the penalty spot; Porro’s second-half goal completed Spain’s decisive 2-0 result. The victory extended Spain’s run to the final and ended France’s bid for the title.
