Kylian Mbappé acknowledged that he and the French national team must face criticism after their elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinals. France lost 2-0 to Spain on July 14, a result that prompted unrest in Paris, with reports of approximately 160 arrests and fires breaking out in the capital.
"At the end of the day, you take all the glory when you win, and when you don't win you have to, sorry, take the s--t," Mbappé told Fox's Jenny Taft after the match. "At the end, it’s part of the game, it’s part of my game, it’s part of my life and as captain I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that. We wanted to go to the final, we didn't go. So now we have to go and take what people do to us."
Mbappé, who was 19 when he helped lead France to its 2018 World Cup victory and was part of the team that reached the final in 2022, scored in each of France's first six matches of this summer's tournament, with eight goals placing him in contention for the Golden Boot.
Despite his scoring record, Mbappé and the French team were unable to find the net against Spain, with Mbappé failing to record a shot on goal in the semifinal. This marks the end of manager Didier Deschamps' tenure, which began in 2012. Deschamps, captain of France's 1998 World Cup-winning team and manager for the 2018 victory, is set to be replaced by Zinedine Zidane.
France is scheduled to play in the third-place match on Saturday in Miami Gardens against the loser of the semifinal between Argentina and England. Spain will compete in the final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium against the winner of that match.