France manager Didier Deschamps has cast doubt on the refereeing standards at the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals, following his side's 2-0 defeat to Spain in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday.

Speaking after the match, Deschamps stopped short of a full-throated complaint but posed a pointed question:

"Is the referee at the level required to officiate a World Cup semi-final? And I'm not saying this just because we lost today. There were quite a few situations. There were some favourable calls, too."

Penalty decision at the heart of it

Deschamps was most aggrieved by an early first-half penalty awarded to Spain after left-back Lucas Digne made contact with Lamine Yamal. He also took issue with what he saw as a reckless foul by Yamal that went unpunished — no yellow card shown to the young Spanish winger.

He indicated that a number of other decisions across the match in Arlington went against France, though he declined to list them individually, wary of coming across as a sore loser.

Deschamps admits Spain were better

Despite his grievances with referee Iván Barton, Deschamps was frank in his assessment of the performance gap between the two sides. He acknowledged that France were outplayed by a Spain team that controlled the contest from start to finish.

"The players are devastated because we had a lot of ambition, even though we also have to be realistic and acknowledge that today we were a notch below on the technical level against a team that controlled the game well. But first of all, it's our fault — I don't want to blame anyone."

The result ends France's FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign at the semi-final stage, with Spain advancing to the final.