By Mishael Emmanuel

France captain Kylian Mbappe admitted Les Bleus fell well below their standards after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Spain in Tuesday's FIFA World Cup semi-final in Arlington, Texas, describing his side's performance as "too sloppy" to compete with the European champions.

The defeat ended France's quest for a third consecutive World Cup final appearance, with Spain dominating possession and controlling proceedings through the midfield duo of Rodri and Fabian Ruiz.

"We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, that's hard," Mbappe said. "Fabian and Rodri had plenty of time to play. There was a lack of communication in our pressing. I think we should have gone man-to-man and forced them to run with us."

France had entered the semi-final in impressive form, winning all six of their previous matches and scoring 16 goals. However, they struggled to impose themselves against a disciplined Spanish side.

Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal inside the box, before Pedro Porro doubled Spain's advantage just before the hour mark to seal a deserved victory.

Mbappe revealed that France's strategy was to press high and prevent Spain from settling into their trademark possession based style, but the plan failed as the Spaniards repeatedly played through the French press and quickly regained possession.

"We didn't play the game we wanted, technically or tactically," Mbappe said. "When you don't do what you have to do in a World Cup semi-final, you don't win."

The Real Madrid forward also expressed disappointment with France's lack of quality in possession, saying poor first touches and missed opportunities prevented his side from capitalising whenever openings arose.

"We were too sloppy technically. We could not hurt them when we had the chance," he added.

Head coach Didier Deschamps attempted to change the course of the contest by replacing Adrien Rabiot at half-time before introducing Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki in the second half.

However, the substitutions failed to halt Spain's dominance, while Mbappe was unable to add to his tally of eight goals at the tournament.

Despite the defeat, Mbappe remains level with Argentina captain Lionel Messi in the race for the tournament's Golden Boot.

The French skipper also finished with eight goals at the 2022 World Cup, where France lost to Argentina on penalties in the final.

"As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility, and I have no problem with that," Mbappe said. "We wanted to go to the final. We didn't."

France will now turn their attention to Saturday's third-place playoff in Miami Gardens, where they will face the loser of Wednesday's semi-final between Argentina and England.