Six France stars slaughtered with brutal L'Equipe players ratings after Spain loss

Kylian Mbappe is among six France stars who have been given brutal ratings by L’Equipe following their exit from Euro 2024. Les Bleus were beaten 2-1 by Spain in Tuesday’s semi-final as Mbappe struggled and scored a dismal three out of 10 rating.

L’Equipe are famously harsh with their player ratings but were clearly deeply unimpressed with Didier Deschamps’ side against Spain. Mbappe was one of six players to score a three or less in today’s edition of the newspaper.

The 25-year-old France captain struggled throughout the tournament, perhaps prohibited by a protective mask he has been forced to wear since breaking his nose in his team’s first game in Germany. He was not helped by the dismal performances of those around him against Spain.

Ousmane Dembele, N’Golo Kante, Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni were also given threes. As was manager Deschamps, whose conservative tactics have split opinion among the French football community this summer.

But it was left-back Theo Hernandez who caught the ire of L’Equipe the most. Torn apart by 16-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal during the game, the 26-year-old defender was given a bleak rating of two out of 10.

L’Equipe’s average rating of France’s starting 11 was a lowly 3.6 out of 10. Goalscorer Randal Kolo Muani, goalkeeper Mike Maignon and defender Dayot Upamecano were all given fours.

However, Arsenal defender William Saliba seemed to have impressed by the newspaper’s standards. He scored a six out of 10 having handled the threat of Alvaro Morata relatively impressively.

Spain, whose triumph was punctuated by remarkable goals from Yamal and Dani Olmo, were only given slightly better ratings. Their average team rating was a six, helped by the eight given to Barcelona sensation Yamal and sevens apiece for Olmo and Rodri.

Veteran defender Jesus Navas scored a five despite limiting Mbappe’s impact. Nico Williams and Aymeric Laporte also scored fairly harsh fives. Unai Simon, Nacho, Marc Cucurella and Fabian Ruiz all scored sixes.

Mbappe, who assisted Kolo Muani’s opening goal, admitted that his tournament had been a ‘failure’. The Real Madrid-bound attacker had faced calls from France legend Frank Leboeuf to be dropped in the build-up to the match.

“My competition? It was difficult. It was a failure. We had the ambition to be European champions – I had the ambition to be European champion. We aren’t that, so it’s a failure,” Mbappe said afterwards.

“It’s football. We have to move on. It’s been a long year. I’m going to go on holiday and get some rest – that’ll do me a lot of good, and I’ll try and come back strongly.”