Kylian Mbappé do not hide behind excuses. I looked at what happened in Arlington on Tuesday night and called it exactly what it was, a failure in every area of the game.France’s 2-0 defeat by Spain in the World Cup semi-final was as comprehensive as any scoreline could suggest, and Mbappé, kept scoreless on the night and unable to add to his eight tournament goals, was brutally honest about where he went wrong. His words seemed to point directly at his manager Didier Deschamps.“We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, it’s tough,” Mbappé said after the match. “Fabián Ruiz and Rodri had a lot of time to play. There was a lack of communication on the press. I think we should have made the press man to man and force them to run with us.”The frustration went deeper than a simple tactical setup. Mbappé was critical of France’s technical execution throughout, admitting that the players themselves were equally to blame for the defeat.“We didn’t play the game we wanted to, technically, tactically,” he said. “When you don’t do what you have to do in a semi-final of the World Cup, you don’t win. Spain respected their game plan. Our plan was to press high so they couldn’t install their rhythm. We didn’t manage to do it. We were too sloppy technically. We couldn’t hurt them when we could.”Even when France recovered the ball, Mbappé admitted that the first few touches were not good enough, gifting possession directly to a Spanish team that punished every mistake mercilessly. Oyarzabal’s penalty after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal gave Spain the lead, and Pedro Porro’s second-half strike put the result beyond doubt.Young substitute Rayan Cherki was equally damning. “In so many ways, France was missing everything today. Really, everything was missing today,” said the Manchester City forward.Mbappé, who earned a yellow card in the 86th minute after clashing with goalkeeper Unai Simón, ultimately accepted the responsibility that comes with captaincy. “As the captain, I have to take all the responsibilities and I have no problem with that,” he said. “We wanted to go to the end. We didn’t go.”France will now face the loser of Thursday’s Argentina vs England semi-final in the third-place play-off on Saturday in Miami. For a team that came in as tournament favorites, it’s a very humiliating end.