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France midfielder Adrien Rabiot did not hold back in his assessment after Les Bleus' FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign ended with a 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place playoff, describing his side's first-half performance as "shameful" and questioning the attitude shown by some of his teammates.
Speaking to BeIN Sports after Saturday's defeat, Rabiot expressed disappointment over France's collapse before the break, when England raced into a stunning 4-0 lead. "We started the first half quite shamefully (trailing 0-4). I saw behaviour from some players that I'd never seen before. It's a bit disappointing, because it was the last match to do well in this competition. There's a lot of disappointment after the loss against Spain, but there was work to be done until the very end, and we can't just be content with sloppy play like that," Rabiot said, quoted by L'EQUIPE from BeIN Sports. The midfielder revealed that the players confronted each other at half-time in a bid to restore some pride, with France responding by scoring four goals after the interval. "We talked at halftime, we told ourselves we needed to show some pride, and it was much better in the second half, because in the first half, some of the behaviour was unacceptable," he added. England secured their first-ever FIFA World Cup third-place playoff victory in a pulsating 6-4 contest, bringing Didier Deschamps' 14-year reign as France head coach to a disappointing end. The Three Lions made a blistering start, with stand-in captain Declan Rice opening the scoring inside three minutes before Ezri Konsa doubled the advantage in the 18th minute. Bukayo Saka then struck twice before half-time as England stormed into an unprecedented 4-0 lead. France responded strongly after the break. Kylian Mbappe pulled one back in the 48th minute before setting up substitute Bradley Barcola to make it 4-2. Mbappe then struck again to reduce the deficit to a single goal, becoming the outright leader in the Golden Boot race while also surpassing Lionel Messi to become the FIFA World Cup's all-time leading scorer with 22 goals. However, England regained control when Saka converted a late penalty to complete his hat-trick after Djed Spence was brought down in the box. Ousmane Dembele scored deep into stoppage time to keep France's hopes alive briefly, but Jude Bellingham sealed the dramatic 6-4 victory moments later with England's sixth goal. While France's spirited second-half fightback fell short, Rabiot's post-match comments reflected the frustration within the squad over a disastrous opening 45 minutes that ultimately proved decisive in their final match of the tournament. (ANI)
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