L'Equipe's SCATHING player ratings as French media reacts to Spain loss
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- L'Equipe headlined 'Fallen star' alongside a dejected Kylian Mbappe photo, calling France 'powerless' to stop Spain.
- L'Equipe's player ratings gave no player above 5/10, with Lucas Digne, Ousmane Dembele, and Michael Olise each receiving 2/10 for their displays.
- Kylian Mbappe and head coach Didier Deschamps both earned 3/10, with Deschamps set to take charge of his final match in Saturday's third-place play-off.
- Le Parisien ran 'Rude awakening,' saying France 'never found the key to break down the Spanish Armada,' while Corse Matin used the Spanish word for 'disappointment' and declared France 'outclassed.'
- Le Figaro said Spain 'taught France a lesson' and Ouest France called the defeat 'the end of the American dream' — with every French paper leading with the same image of a forlorn Mbappe.
- Rayan Cherki told reporters 'we lost to ourselves,' insisting France self-destructed rather than being beaten by Spain or the referee.
- Deschamps blamed the absence of injured William Saliba and Adrien Rabiot's yellow-card risk, while also claiming 'some decisions were questionable' from the officials.
Why it matters: With Deschamps confirmed to depart after Saturday's third-place play-off and no French player rated above 5/10, the loss ends their bid for a third straight World Cup final and forces the French Football Federation into an immediate coaching search. The unanimity of French front pages — every paper led with the same dejected Mbappe image — signals an unusually broad consensus on where the blame sits.
