Didier Deschamps said his France national football team did not want to play the third-place play-off against England in his final match.
The result marks a disappointing conclusion to Deschamps' tenure as manager, ending his leadership with a consolation fixture rather than a trophy.
Deschamps said the match did not meet his expectations for his departure from the role. The French squad had been eliminated from title contention earlier in the tournament, leaving the players with little desire to contest the bronze-medal game [1, 3].
"We don't want to play the third‑place play‑off against England," Deschamps said [1].
Team captain Kylian Mbappé said the squad failed to secure a more prestigious conclusion for their manager. The star forward focused on the team's inability to reach the final stages of the competition.
"We failed to give you the send‑off you deserved," Mbappé said [2].
Despite the focus on the third-place match, Deschamps previously weighed in on the tournament's remaining contenders. He identified Spain as the favorites to reach the World Cup semi-final during the course of the event [1].
The match against England served as the final official appearance for Deschamps, who led the team through a period of high expectations that ultimately ended in a third-place struggle [1, 2, 3].
“"We don't want to play the third‑place play‑off against England."”
The admission of a lack of desire from both the manager and the players suggests a psychological collapse following France's exit from the championship race. Ending a long-term managerial tenure in a third-place play-off—a match often viewed as a formality—indicates a disconnect between the team's ambitions and their actual tournament trajectory.
