France 0-2 Spain: French media reacts to disappointing World Cup semi-final loss - including scathing L'Equipe player ratings

The French media delivered a frank assessment of the national team on Wednesday morning after their World Cup semi-final exit to Spain.

France were below their usual high standards as they were beaten 2-0 in Dallas by the European champions. Mikel Oyarzabal's first-half penalty was backed up by Pedro Porro's second-half strike, as France's much-vaunted front four fell flat.

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L'Equipe ran with an image of a forlorn Kylian Mbappe and the headline of "fallen star" - adding the team were "powerless" to stop Spain.

The paper also published their brutal player ratings, with some big stars given low scores. No player was given above a 5/10.

Lucas Digne was given 2/10 for his role in giving away the Spain penalty, but Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise also got the same score after ineffective displays in attack.

Kylian Mbappe was given a 3/10 - along with France head coach Didier Deschamps, who takes charge of his final match in charge of the national team in Saturday's third-place play-off.

Le Parisien went with the headline "rude awakening" - saying the team "never found the key to break down the Spanish Armada".

Corse Martin went for the Spanish word for "disappointment" on their front page - adding Didier Deschamps' side were "outclassed" by their opponents.

Le Figaro said Spain "taught France a lesson" while Ouest France described the loss as the "end of the American dream".

Every single French paper went with a disappointed looking Kylian Mbappe as their front-page image.

'We lost to ourselves' - how the team reacted

France midfielder Rayan Cherki:

"It's a huge disappointment, huge because today we lost to ourselves. We didn't lose to the referee, we didn't lose to Spain, we lost to ourselves.

"Here, you all know, we all know we were a force to be reckoned with. The only team capable of eliminating us was ourselves, and today that's exactly what happened."

France head coach Didier Deschamps:

"The Spanish team is a strong one. It is tough and proved their skills today. We were below our standard, we committed more technical flaws than before.

"And even though I believed the entire would recover, they did not. I have really skilled and top-notch players on the bench, but William Saliba got injured, Adrien Rabiot was at risk because of the yellow card.

"It is mainly due to that - and we know the skills of the Spanish team. And to hope for victory, we should have been at our maximum and given it all and we did not, unfortunately.

"Therefore, we are extremely disappointed tonight. And the first part is the important one - some decisions were questionable."

(c) Sky Sports 2026: France 0-2 Spain: French media reacts to disappointing World Cup semi-final loss - including scathing L'Equipe player ratings