​France had dazzled at the World Cup but it was to no avail as a semi-final defeat against Spain on Bastille Day means they will miss the desired title and with it a perfect send-off for their departing coach Ddier Deschamps.A penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal in the 22nd minute and Pedro Porro in the 58th minute clinched a third straight tournament semi-final win for La Roja over Les Bleus, after Euro 2024 and the 2025 Nations League.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLed by eight-time scorer Kylian Mbappé, the France attack which had scored 16 goals on their way into the last four never got rolling but also faced a formidable opponent in the Spanish who have only conceded once at the tournaments.Mbappé had their first and biggest chance in the 67th minute but his shot was just deflected wide by Marc Cucurella. Désiré Doué hesitated when Spain keeper Unai Simón was out of his goal and the only noteworthy moment of assist king Michael Olie was a rather reckless challenge against Rodri.For Deschamps, is was a mixture of unusual mistakes by his players and Spain’s class.”We fell short and weren’t as dangerous in attack as we could have been, making a few technical errors on passes that might have led to scoring chances. That’s the reality of the elite level,” he said.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”We have to admit that today we were a notch below our usual level technically, facing a team that really had a handle on the gameHe said that Spain “defended extremely well and we never got into the game.”We had big ambitions but have to admit that Spain were better, they did a really good job. We tried everything but Spain showed that they are at a different level.”We tried, we failed, it just wasn’t enough.”Deschamps said that the team would regroup for Saturday’s match for third place against the loser of the other semi-final between title holders Argentina and England even though “the players are devastated.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMbappé told broadcasters M6: “I don’t think we played the sort of match we wanted to. Whether it was tactically or technically, or in terms of the overall standard we put in. And when you don’t do what you’re supposed to do in a World Cup semi-final, you don’t win.”Like everyone else, I’m deeply disappointed. It was a dream for us to reach the final, to give our country the chance to keep dreaming and to make history.”Deschamps was in charge of a record 26th World Cup match to move one ahead of German Helmut Schön and a final 27th one will follow on Saturday before he steps down after 14 largely successful years in charge.Having captained France to their first title in 1998, Deschamps followed up as coach with the 2018 trophy and only missed more glory in 2022 when they lost the final on penalties against Argentina.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCaptain Mbappé had said on several occasions that the team also wanted to win the title in North America for Deschamps but it wa