Kylian Mbappé was shown a late yellow card as France’s hopes of reaching a third consecutive World Cup final ended with a 2-0 defeat to Spain.
The France captain struggled to influence Tuesday’s semi-final at Dallas Stadium, where Spain limited him to three attempts and prevented him from registering a shot on target.
His frustration was evident during the closing stages, particularly after France failed to find a way through Spain’s disciplined defence.
In the 87th minute, Mbappé continued his run towards a loose ball as Unai Simón came forward to collect it. The forward arrived late and caught the Spanish goalkeeper in the face while attempting to win possession.
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Salvadoran referee Iván Barton immediately showed Mbappé a yellow card.
According to Mint’s live coverage of the semi-final, the booking came three minutes before the end of normal time.
A frustrating evening for Mbappé
The late challenge completed a disappointing match for a player who had scored eight goals during France’s run to the semi-finals.
Mbappé occasionally found space on the left and had an effort deflected wide by Marc Cucurella during the second half. However, he was largely kept away from the areas where he is usually most dangerous.
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Spain’s defensive organisation denied him clear chances, while Aymeric Laporte, Pau Cubarsí and Cucurella dealt effectively with France’s attempts to attack in transition.
Mbappé’s final opportunity came shortly after his booking. France were awarded a free kick just outside the Spanish penalty area, but the forward sent his effort well over the crossbar.
The miss summed up a night when little went according to plan for either Mbappé or his team.
Spain control the semi-final
Spain took the lead in the 22nd minute after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal inside the penalty area.
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Mikel Oyarzabal converted the resulting spot kick before Pedro Porro doubled the advantage in the 58th minute following a quick exchange with Dani Olmo.
As described in FIFA’s official match report, Spain frustrated France at one end of the pitch and punished them at the other to secure a deserved 2-0 victory.
France entered the match having won all six of their previous games at the tournament. They had also conceded only twice and had never fallen behind.
Once Spain opened the scoring, however, Didier Deschamps’ players struggled to change the rhythm of the contest.
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Rayan Cherki, Désiré Doué, Manu Koné and Theo Hernández were introduced during the second half, but Spain continued to control the central areas and protect Simón’s goal.
Mbappé accepts responsibility
Mbappé did not attempt to make excuses after the final whistle.
“As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that,” he said, as quoted by the Associated Press.
“We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”
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The defeat ended France’s attempt to become only the third nation to appear in three consecutive World Cup finals.
It did not, however, bring their tournament to a complete end. France will contest the third-place match in Miami Gardens on Saturday, July 18.
Mbappé will have one final opportunity to add to his eight goals and strengthen his position in the race for the Golden Boot.
Before then, the France captain and his teammates must recover from a semi-final in which Spain controlled the decisive moments and reduced one of the tournament’s most dangerous attacks to a handful of opportunities.
Mbappé’s late booking was not responsible for the defeat, but it reflected the growing frustration of a French side that had run out of answers.
