'I don't accept it': How France reacted to defeat in ten-goal England thriller as Man City star singled out

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19 July 2026

Media were unimpressed as

Les Bleus

shipped four before half-time

Journalists have ripped into the

France

national team after their

World Cup

ended with defeat by

England

in the bronze-medal match on Saturday night.

This

has proved a bitterly disappointing one for

who came into the summer widely tipped as favourites

Their

shock semi-final defeat by Spain

was already a considerable blow, but

rubbed salt into their wounds on Saturday,

winning a frantic third-place play-off 6-4

The match marked a hugely disappointing close to Didier Deschamps’ decorated spell in charge of

, and the press have held no quarter in lambasting the team’s performance against

Pundit Daniel Riolo of RMC Sport lauded the Three Lions’ ability to bounce back from a crushing semi-final defeat by Argentina, but questioned why France could not do the same.

"What the English suffered in terms of defeat against Argentina is much harder than what the French suffered,” he began, speaking on After Foot, responding to

Kylian Mbappe

’s ‘excuse’ that

were simply ‘human’.

Under fire: Kylian Mbappe

AFP/Getty

“The French were completely outclassed (against Spain), they were eaten alive, it was over, goodbye!

“The English lost in the last minute. They had the game turned around in the last ten minutes. If there was one team that should have been stunned and wanted to go home and bury their heads in the sand, it was England!

“They played the first half with their B team. Bellingham didn't start. Kane didn't play. I'm sorry, that excuse doesn't work. I don't accept it."

Manchester City’s

Rayan Cherki

came in for more criticism than some of his team-mates. The forward struggled for playing time throughout the tournament and was handed a rare start against

, but was hooked at half-time after appearing to argue with Deschamps during a drinks break.

His performance was slapped with a two out of 10 rating by both L’Equipe and RMC, while Ouest-France bumped him up to a three. Le Parisien branded him ‘disappointing’.

Disappointing: Rayan Cherki

Joining Riolo on After Foot, journalist Florent Gautreau said Cherki had “never been good” and predicted a falling out with reported incoming manager Zinedine Zidane if his attitude does not improve.

“I think he had the right attitude within the group; he was a bit of a mascot," said Florent Gautreau.

“I'm not going to judge Cherki on his attitude, because on the face of it, he's a good guy, and things are going well within the group. He just has a problem with the coach, which happens.

“What bothers me is that he's never been good. He comes on, he's not good; he starts, he's not good.

“You shouldn't think that with Zidane, even if he appreciates this type of player, he'll have some kind of immunity.”

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