France star moans England match 'shouldn't even be played' after defeat

Didier Deschamps’ final game as France manager was thrilling but disappointing (Picture: Getty Images)

France defender

Jules Kounde

insists the

World Cup

third-place play-off is a match that ‘shouldn’t even be played’ after

the thrilling 6-4 loss

to

England

on Saturday.

Both nations suffered heartbreak in their semi-finals, with France beaten 2-0 by Spain and England losing 2-1 to Argentina.

Those two victorious countries will meet in Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey, while the defeated sides faced off on Saturday in Miami.

While it might be a largely pointless contest, it was a brilliant one, with the Three Lions ending their campaign on a high.

England were 4-0 up at half-time thanks to goals from

Declan Rice

,

Ezri Konsa

and two from

Bukayo Saka

.

France looked a shadow of the team they had been earlier in the tournament, but in Didier Deschamps’ last game in charge they significantly improved after the break.

Kylian Mbappe

scored twice and Bradley Barcola got another to go back within one goal of England.

Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick in Miami (Picture: Getty Images)

However, Saka completed his hat-trick in the 87th minute from the penalty spot

to ease England’s nerves of a monumental collapse.

The drama was not over there, though, as Ousmane Dembele netted in injury time, before

Jude Bellingham

scored a brilliant solo goal to end the scoring at 6-4 in England’s favour.

A frustrated Kounde, who only came on in stoppage time, bemoaned the first half performance and the fact that the teams had to play the game at all after being eliminated days earlier.

‘We had a very, very bad first half for several reasons,’ the Barcelona defender said, via

L’Equipe

. ‘In the second half, we were much more up to the task of wearing the blue jersey.

Jules Kounde came on late in the game on Saturday (Picture: Getty Images)

‘It wasn’t enough, even though we had a lot of chances in the second half. We’re all disappointed to finish with a second defeat and not to have been able to give the coach a win.

‘My biggest regret is not reaching the final; it’s a tough match to play. Personally, I think it’s a match that shouldn’t even be played, because it’s incredibly difficult as a competitor to play it after having prepared for a single goal: the final.

‘That said, we owe it to ourselves to do better. Overall, we left a positive impression, and people enjoyed watching us play, but finishing like this leaves a bitter taste.’

It was a disappointing end to Didier Deschamps’ epic reign (Picture: Getty Images)

Deschamps has been in charge of France since 2012, but is stepping down after his latest World Cup effort.

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