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France head coach Didier Deschamps expressed frustration with the officiating following his side's 2-0 defeat to Spain in the FIFA World Cup semi-final on Tuesday, July 14.
Spain secured their place in the tournament final after Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the penalty spot before adding a second goal to eliminate France. They will now face the winner of the other semi-final between Argentina and England.
After the match, Deschamps voiced concerns over the referee's performance, particularly the decision to award Spain a penalty after a foul involving France defender Lucas Digne.
Speaking after the final whistle, the 57-year-old admitted he did not want to appear bitter because of the defeat, but questioned whether the official was experienced enough to handle such a high-profile match.
"If I say anything, I'll look like a sore loser because we lost," Deschamps said. "But I ask you: is the referee up to the task of officiating a semifinal? There's the penalty, but that's not all. It adds to everything else. I have nothing against the referee tonight, but ask yourselves the question."
The long-serving France manager later explained that his frustration was not based on a single decision, describing it instead as "an accumulation of things" throughout the contest.
Despite criticizing the officiating, Deschamps also acknowledged Spain's impressive performance and admitted his players struggled to cope with their opponents' quality.
He praised Spain's passing, movement, and ability to read the game, saying his team found it difficult to create meaningful attacking opportunities. According to Deschamps, France's usual technical quality and attacking rhythm were missing on the night, making it difficult to challenge one of the tournament's strongest teams.
The coach, who has led France for 14 years, refused to let the defeat overshadow the team's overall achievements. He stressed that one disappointing result should not erase everything the squad has accomplished during his tenure.
However, he admitted that France simply failed to reach the level required to overcome Spain in such an important fixture.
"In a match like this, against a team like Spain, you have to be at your absolute maximum," Deschamps said. "France wasn't at that level tonight. To have any hope, we needed to be at our best. Unfortunately, we weren't."
He added that the defeat was especially painful because the players had entered the tournament with high hopes of lifting the World Cup trophy and were deeply disappointed to see their campaign come to an end in the semi-finals.
