Real Madrid superstar striker Kylian Mbappe was breaking records and earning praise from all corners for his performances at the 2026 World Cup, but when push came to shove against the Spanish national team in the semifinals of the competition, Mbappe and his teammates once again came up short.
France were outplayed, outcoached, and genuinely dominated in and out of possession by a superior Spanish side. Spain's midfield ran circles around the overmatched French players, while Pedro Porro and Marc Cucurella shut down the flanks with ease.
Even Mbappe, after the game, had to admit that France were woeful, and in his description of how "we" were not good enough, speaking of Les Bleus as a whole, everyone knows that Mbappe, who was offsides more than he made positive threatening plays as a striker, is very much included in that "we" and was arguably the worst player on the pitch for France.
Kylian Mbappe flopped on a huge stage
The 2018 World Cup champion stated, via the Madrid Zone, "What we did tonight was unworthy of a World Cup semi-final. We failed technically, and tactically. Even when we won the ball back, our moves and our touches were unworthy of the World Cup semis. We did not have what it takes to go to the World Cup final, to be honest."
While that is a very, very harsh assessment of how France performed, Kylian Mbppe is 100 percent right. France were terrible. They lost 2-0 to Spain because they were second best in all favorites, and they were clearly second rate to La Roja.
Mbappe was at the front of that. He was terrible defensively, did nothing to make things happen on the ball, wasted opportunities, looked like his head was in the clouds against a top team, and created nothing for his teammates.
Whereas Mbappe was flying high and looking happy and even like a true leader for his country, Real Madrid fans saw the Mbappe they grew frusrated with during the 2025/26 season; the one who cowered against tough La Liga opponents and could not handle his own fans getting frustrated and giving him feedback in the form of boos.
At least in this case, Mbappe is accountable, even if he is reverting more to "we" than anything else. But compared to what he says at Real Madrid, at least he is willing to admit how he and his teammates played for France was nowhere near good enough and that they let all their fans down badly.
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