The midfielder of the French team Adrien Rabiot castigated a “shameful” first period and “behavior of certain players that I had never seen until now”, after the match for 3rd place at the 2026 World Cup lost 6-4 against England on Saturday in Miami.
“We entered this first half quite shamefully (editor’s note: lost 0-4). I saw behavior from certain players that I had never seen before. It’s a little disappointing, because it was the last match to do well in this competition,” Rabiot said on BeIN Sports.
“There is a lot of disappointment after the match lost against Spain, but there was work to be done until the end and we cannot just botch things like that,” continued the AC Milan midfielder known for his outspokenness.
“In the first half, certain behaviors were unacceptable”
“We spoke to each other at half-time, we said to ourselves that we needed a little pride, and it was much better in the second half, because in the first, certain behaviors were unacceptable,” he insisted.
“For the rest, we must highlight the coach, Guy (Stéphan), Franck (Raviot), Cyril (Moine) who did an enormous job and brought this team back to the top with all the players. We would have liked to end with a victory so that the coach had a better exit, but that does not tarnish the image he has with all French people,” said Rabiot.
Asked about the player’s comments at a press conference, Deschamps, who managed his last match for the France team after 14 years at the head of the Blues, refused to add fuel to the fire.
“It was me who was wrong,” he said, refusing to stigmatize a player in particular, he who made four changes at half-time, but “could have made eight”.
“I should have made choices from the start of the match and perhaps it would have gone better afterwards,” continued Deschamps. Afterwards everyone is judged based on their performances, but judging players, characters, different personalities, I have never done it in front of you, I am not going to end up like that.
“Obviously (in this match), there are certain players who could have done better,” he conceded. I wish them all the best.”
