The turning point of the match came from Lucas Digne's foul leading to a penalty. After that moment, France's entire match plan was reversed. When they had to fall into a chasing position very early, they were forced to change their approach and face much greater pressure than in previous matches.
In football, just one mistake can cause the whole system to collapse. Lucas's situation is a typical example. Spain took advantage of that advantage to deploy tactical intentions correctly, while France was caught up in a state of impatience and gradually revealed limitations in the midfield area.
In my opinion, France's midfield does not gather players of the highest level. When placed in a bigger challenge, this midfield cannot fulfill its connecting role. They are often divided, lose control of the midfield and do not create a foundation for attacking players to develop their abilities. In the opposite direction, Spain has a complete match. Rodri, Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz control the pace of the match extremely effectively. They always appear at the right time at the hot spots, maintain reasonable formation distance and make it very difficult for France to deploy the ball. Almost for 90 minutes, the French team did not create many truly quality plays.
With what has been shown, Spain's victory is completely deserved. In my opinion, the difference is not only in personnel quality but mainly from the performance of the players in this match.
Many opinions believe that Didier Deschamps made a mistake in arranging the squad. However, I do not agree. Not using Kante does not mean that it is the cause of the defeat. Whether Kante's entry will help Mbappe or Dembele receive the ball in a more favorable position or not, no one can confirm. In my opinion, the biggest problem is that French strikers all have to receive the ball in very unfavorable conditions, lack space and do not have enough time to handle it.
Michael Olise even fell into a more difficult situation. His operating space was completely constrained, causing this player to almost disappear.
If the French players' form was better, perhaps the situation would have been different. But in a match where they both suffered pressure from the score and had to face the strongest opponent in the tournament, all difficulties were pushed higher. This is also the first time France has fallen into a goal-losing situation at the 2026 World Cup. In addition, the consecutive defeats against Spain in recent encounters certainly also create no small psychological pressure. Therefore, this is a very difficult match for France right from the start of the match.
