ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kylian Mbappé saw it with his own eyes on the field: France simply wasn’t playing well enough to win their third straight title. world cup final.
The French striker will have to compromise in a tight race against Argentine superstar Lionel Messi for third place and another Golden Boot.
Mbappe, one of the biggest stars of this year’s World Cup and one of the best scorers in the game, failed to create many chances in his team’s matches. Lost to Spain 0-2 in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Mbappe and Messi have each scored eight goals so far in this tournament. Mbappe, who won the Golden Boot award at the last World Cup in Qatar four years ago, won the first tie-break with a 3-2 lead in assists. Messi and defending champion Argentina will meet again on Wednesday in another semi-final match against England.
Both players then play one more match before the award is decided. France will face the other loser of the semifinals in the third-place game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spain will play the winner in the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
“At the end of the day, if you win you get all the glory,” Mbappe said. “Even when we don’t win… that’s part of the game. As captain, I have to take full responsibility, but I have no problem with that. We wanted to go to the final, but we couldn’t.”
Mbappe had the fewest touches of any forward, 15, in the first half. Perhaps his most notable moment was when he tried to convince referee Ivan Barton that the penalty that gave Spain the lead should not have been called.
Lucas Digne fouled teenager Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty in the 22nd minute put Spain ahead for good.
Mbappe’s best chance came in the 67th minute, when his shot hit Spanish defender Marc Cucurella and narrowly missed the target. At this point, La Roja had already built a two-goal lead.
“This is a team that loves to control the game and control the ball,” Mbappe said. “That’s what we let them do. We gave the midfield too much time to play and at the end of the day they had the quality to play. It’s difficult if we don’t change the way Spain plays. We weren’t at the level to get to the final.”
Mbappe, 27, was shown a yellow card in the 86th minute for lunging at Unai Simon as the Spanish goalkeeper ducked to pick up the ball. The two collided and Simon fell to the grass.
Mbappe started in his team’s 2-0 quarter-final win over Morocco against Spain, where he was sent off in the 77th minute, and scored his eighth goal of the tournament.
Mbappe also scored eight goals in Qatar four years ago, when France lost in the final to Messi and Argentina on penalties. France defeated Croatia to win the World Cup in Russia eight years ago.
“They (France) can always punish you, so I think the key in this match was to concentrate every minute,” Spain midfielder Rodri said. “An incredible effort from everyone”
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