France head coach, Didier Deschamps, has criticised the standard of officiating after his side’s 2-0 defeat to Spain in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final on Tuesday, although he admitted the better team progressed.
The French manager questioned whether referee Iván Barton was suited to handle a match of such magnitude after several decisions went against his team during the encounter in Arlington, Texas.
Among the incidents that angered Deschamps was the first-half penalty awarded to Spain after Lucas Digne was adjudged to have fouled Lamine Yamal.
He also felt Yamal escaped punishment for a reckless challenge that he believed deserved a yellow card.
While suggesting that a number of decisions influenced the outcome, the France coach declined to dwell on them, insisting he did not want to appear to be making excuses for the defeat.
“I’ll ask a loaded question and I won’t answer it,” Deschamps said. “Is the referee at the level required to officiate a World Cup semi-final?
“And I’m not saying this just because we lost today. There were quite a few situations. There were some favourable calls, too.”
Despite his criticism of the officiating, Deschamps conceded that Spain deserved the victory, admitting France struggled to match their opponents’ technical quality and control of the game.
“The players are devastated because we had a lot of ambition, even though we also have to be realistic and acknowledge that today we were a notch below on the technical level against a team that controlled the game well.
“But first of all, it’s our fault, I don’t want to blame anyone.”
