World Cup 2026 ranking; 🎙 France - England press conference

Didier Deschamps: The France national team will miss it

Our level of disappointment is as big as our ambitions, but we have to accept it; there is no other way. We faced a very good Spain team that had raised the level of its game. Was that the issue or did we simply appear a bit below what was expected?»

After accepting that his team had not reached the set goal, Deschamps immediately shifted his focus to the next challenge: «We didn’t reach the goal we wanted and had expected. Another match awaits us. This match is not on Sunday, the day of the final, but on Saturday. Of course, we must overcome this big disappointment. Our duty is to give everything we’ve got on Saturday, because it is the last game of the tournament.»

The France coach emphasized that despite the bitterness of the defeat, they had to turn the page and face the England national team with full seriousness: «For everything there is a time, and that is what it means to be at the highest level of football. Players have experienced other hard moments, defeats, and eliminations as well. When you have a competitive spirit, you have that motivation, and of course, when you don’t reach your goal, it has to be painful—and it’s a good thing we can still feel this pain.»

In the end, Deschamps stressed the need to respect the national team’s shirt and the fans, and made it clear that the match against the English is not a friendly: «Third-place titles are at stake, so we will do everything to get them. We have this responsibility toward ourselves, toward what this shirt represents, and toward everyone who supported us and was excited with us. There are certainly a lot of disappointed people, but the game ahead of us is there. This is not a friendly match. Yes, nobody wants to go out onto the pitch in a ranking match. This competition won’t change their lives, but all the players must know that such a duty rests with them.»