Kylian Mbappe He did not hide from the reasons. He looked at what happened in Arlington on Tuesday night and called it what it was, a failure in every aspect of the game.France’s 2-0 loss to Spain in the World Cup semifinal was about as good as it gets, and Mbappé didn’t do anything that night and couldn’t add to his eight goals, he was honest about where he went wrong. And his words appeared directly to his manager Didier Deschamps.“We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, it’s difficult,” Mbappé said after the match. “Fabián Ruiz and Rodri had a lot of playing time. There was no press conference. I think we should have pressed man by man and forced them to run with us.”Disappointment went deeper than just a tactical setup. Mbappé criticized France’s technique throughout, admitting that the players were also responsible for the defeat.“We didn’t play the game we wanted to, technically, tactically,” he said. “If you don’t do what you’re supposed to do in a World Cup semifinal, you don’t win. Spain respected their game plan. Our goal was to put too much pressure on them so they couldn’t put their rhythm. We couldn’t do it. We were too stupid technically. We couldn’t hurt them when we could.”Even when France got the ball back, Mbappé admitted that the first touch was not enough, and gifted a Spanish team that punished every mistake brutally. Oyarzabal’s penalty after Lucas Digne’s foul on Lamine Yamal gave Spain the lead, and Pedro Porro’s second-half strike put the result beyond doubt.Young replacement Rayan Cherki was also terrible. “In many ways, France missed everything today. Really, everything missed today,” said the Manchester City attacker.Mbappé, who received a yellow card in the 86th minute after colliding with goalkeeper Unai Simón, finally accepted the responsibility that comes with being a captain. “As a captain, I have to take full responsibility and I have no problem with that,” he said. “We wanted to go to the finals. We didn’t.”France will now face Thursday’s losers in the Argentina vs England semifinal in the third leg on Saturday in Miami. For a team that arrived as competition favourites, it’s a very humbling ending.