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The French coach admits negligence, but bears the arbitration part of the responsibility
Didier Deschamps, the coach of the French national team, expressed his displeasure with the refereeing of the semi-final of the 2026 World Cup against Spain, which ended with the difference of two unanswered goals for the Roosters, at the same time emphasizing that the main reason for the refereeing was his team’s technical errors.
Deschamps admitted that in a statement after the match, which the network reported RCC: France said their players were disappointed after losing their dream of reaching the finals, noting that Spain were technically superior and deserved to qualify.
The French coach said. “The players are crushed, but we have to be realistic. We were technically inferior to Spain and that is our responsibility. We made mistakes in passing and some details that could have made the difference.”
Although he held his team responsible for the defeat, Deschamps questioned the quality of the match, saying: “I only ask one question… Was the referee of sufficient quality to officiate the semi-final match of the World Cup?” I will not answer this question, but there were many controversial cases.”
“The first reason for the defeat is that we did not perform at our usual level. At this level, any simple mistake can be costly and Spain showed more quality than us.”
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In other statements, Deschamps returned to talking about refereeing but avoided direct accusations, saying: “If I talk about the referee now, then I will say that I am looking for excuses that we lost, but I repeat the same question: is the referee qualified to officiate the semi-finals of the World Cup?”
He continued his speech by saying: “The penalty was not the only controversial thing, there were other things as well, and I have no personal problem with the referee, but everyone can ask this question.
The French coach confirmed that he was very disappointed after losing the opportunity to fight for the title, adding: “We prepared for the match with the aim of reaching the final, but it didn’t work out. The disappointment is great, but I can’t ignore everything the team did throughout the tournament. adding to the game and we wanted to be able to create more offensive problems for them.”
Deschamps concluded by stressing that France will quickly close the semi-final page in preparation for the third-place match, with their dreams of reaching the finals shattered, as they face the loser of Wednesday night’s England-Argentina match.
