Kylian Mbappé came into France’s FIFA World Cup semifinal against Spain firing on all cylinders, but he and his team fizzled out in a 2-0 defeat Tuesday at AT&T Stadium.
The French striker is tied with Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot (the most goals scored in the tournament) and was a favorite to win the award and the tournament with his teammates.
After falling behind early after a Mikel Oyarzabal penalty kick, Mbappé and France could not respond against a strong Spanish side.
Mbappé has scored or assisted in every game heading into Tuesday but faced perhaps his toughest test of the tournament against Spain, which had only conceded a single goal in the World Cup.
His best chance in the first half came on a breakaway attempt in the 16th minute with only Pedro Porro between him and the goalkeeper, but he couldn’t get a shot off before other Spanish defenders recovered to stymie him. Mbappé didn’t take a shot in the first half.
In the 41st minute Mbappé was trying to play a ball with no one but Unai Simón in his way, but the Spanish goalkeeper made a great play on the ball to deny the striker a shot at an equalizing goal.
In the first half, the Spanish did a great job of making sure there were multiple bodies near Mbappé anytime he got a touch.
Mbappé had a chance for a critical goal in the 67th minute but his shot careened wide, and France remained scoreless as Les Bleus desperately searched for a scoring chance.
Mbappé was trying to do anything to help France find the back of the net, including picking up a yellow card while trying to catch the goalie off-guard with a challenge. The French superstar winced after a free kick sailed over the goalpost in the 88th minute.
France came into the game as the world’s No. 1 team, but Mbappé and France have struggled against Spain, falling to The Red One in their last two matchups, the first a 2024 Euro semifinal and the second a UEFA Nations League semifinal.
Mbappé took his last shot in the game’s waning moments, to raucous cheers from the mostly Spanish crowd as the ball sailed over the goalpost.
France’s World Cup isn’t over as it will play in the third-place game, against the loser of Wednesday’s semifinal between England and Argentina, at 4 p.m. Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Spain will play the Argentina-England winner in the final at 2 p.m. Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Game schedule dates, times, locations
NEXT UP: Game dates, times, locations, channel
Rangers ▶
July 7 Rangers 8, L.A. Angels 3
July 8 L.A. Angels 13, Rangers 1
July 9 Rangers 7, L.A. Angels 6
July 10 Rangers 7, Houston 3
July 11 Houston 9, Rangers 3
July 12 Rangers 6, Houston 5
All-Star break
July 17 at Atlanta, 6:15 p.m., CW
July 18 at Atlanta, 3:10 p.m., RSN
July 19 at Atlanta, 12:35 p.m., RSN
July 20 vs. Chicago White Sox, 7:05 p.m., RSN
July 21 vs. Chicago White Sox, 7:05 p.m., RSN
July 22 vs. Chicago White Sox, 7:05 p.m., RSN
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July 2 Wings 86, Connecticut 83
July 5 Wings 89, Toronto 76
July 7 Wings 88, New York 77
July 10 Wings 108, Toronto 95
July 12 Wings 96, Chicago 91
July 16 vs. New York, 8 p.m., Amazon Prime Video
July 19 vs. Los Angeles, 12 p.m., ABC
July 22 at Portland, 9 p.m., KFAA, USA, CNBC
All-Star break
July 29 vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m., KFAA, USA
July 31 at Washington, 6:30 p.m., Ion
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2026 season
Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), 11 a.m., ESPN
Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, 7 p.m., ESPN+
Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA
Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA
Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA
Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA
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Sept. 13 at N.Y. Giants, 7:20 p.m., NBC
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Jan. 3 vs. N.Y. Giants, 12 p.m., Fox
Jan. 9 or 10 at Washington, TBA
World Cup ▶
All local matches at AT&T Stadium
Group stage
June 14 Japan 2, Netherlands 2 (Group F)
June 17 England 4, Croatia 2 (Group L)
June 22 Argentina 2, Austria 0 (Group J)
June 25 Japan 1, Sweden 1 (Group F)
June 27 Argentina 3, Jordan 1 (Group J)
Knockout round
June 30 Norway 2, Ivory Coast 1 (round of 32)
July 3 Egypt 1, Australia 1 (Egypt wins 4-2 on PKs) (round of 32)
July 6 Spain 1, Portugal 0 (round of 16)
July 14 Spain 2, France 0 (semifinal)
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May 2 FC Dallas 2, NY Red Bulls 0
May 9 FC Dallas 3, Salt Lake 1
May 13 Vancouver 3, FC Dallas 2
May 16 FC Dallas 3, San Jose 2
May 23 FC Dallas 2, Colorado 1
World Cup break
July 22 at Portland, 9:30 p.m., Apple TV
July 25 at San Diego, 8:30 p.m., FS1, Apple TV
Aug. 1 at LA Galaxy, 9:30 p.m., Apple TV
Aug. 5 vs. Queretaro (at Mansfield Stadium), 7:30 p.m., Apple TV
Aug. 8 vs. Chivas de Guadalajara (at San Jose, Calif.), 8 p.m., Apple TV
Lawrence Dow is a digital sports reporter from Philadelphia. He graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from USC. He’s passionate about movies and is always looking for a great book. He covers the Texas Rangers and other sports.
