Press review: France v Spain, a crushing defeat that hurts | OneFootball

This Wednesday, July 15, the French press (from a sporting perspective) had nothing directly focused on Paris Saint-Germain. The main story was the 2026 World Cup semi-final between France and Spain, which involved 6 PSG players (Lucas Hernandez, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé and Fabian Ruiz). It ended in a 0-2 victory for the Spaniards after overwhelming dominance.

Le Parisien –

L’Equipe –

Unfortunately, there is no other possible conclusion than Spain’s superiority in this semi-final. There is no need to dramatize everything or tear it all down, because the excellent level of this team must be acknowledged. But France has to be able to do better, at least in order to truly compete and at least occasionally trouble the opposing goalkeeper.

It is a disappointment, especially since this team still has great potential in its squad and seemed to have the right mental formula to respond to different challenges. This defeat casts some doubt on that, while the strength of the opposition must also be taken into account. Les Bleus failed to defend as a unit, and their attacking threat disappeared.

Now all that remains is the third-place match, more or less motivating. Then comes the new era beginning after Didier Deschamps’ 16 years on the bench. It should be with Zinedine Zidane, who has a major task ahead of him.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.