Mbappe Admits Failure In Euro 2024 As France Faces Semi-Final Exit

Kylian Mbappe has acknowledged that both he and the French team underperformed at Euro 2024. France's journey ended in the semi-finals against Spain, despite being pre-tournament favourites. They struggled throughout the tournament but managed to reach the last four before faltering in Munich.

Randal Kolo Muani gave France an early lead with their first non-penalty goal of the tournament. However, Spain quickly turned the game around with goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo. Yamal became the youngest scorer in World Cup or Euros history. France couldn't find an equaliser in the second half, marking their first major tournament semi-final loss since Euro 1996.

Mbappe had a disappointing tournament, failing to score any non-penalty goals from 23 attempts. This is only surpassed by Deco's 24 non-penalty shots without scoring at Euro 2004. Speaking after the defeat, Mbappe admitted, "They played a better game than us. We conceded two goals quickly and in the second half we had chances to come back but we didn't take them."

Mbappe also reflected on his own performance, stating, "The competition was a failure. I wanted us to be European champions and we're not. That's football." He suffered a broken nose during France's Group D opener against Austria but refused to blame this for his lack of goals.

The forward will soon join his new Real Madrid team-mates and plans to rest before starting this new chapter. "We have to move on," he said. "It's been a long year, I'm going to go on vacation to rest, it's going to do me a lot of good." He emphasised simplicity in football: "You're good or you're not good. I wasn't good and we're going home, it's simple."

Decision to Play Without Mask

Mbappe played the semi-final without the protective mask he wore for France's last three games. Didier Deschamps had previously mentioned that the mask was affecting Mbappe's vision. On this decision, Mbappe explained, "We made the choice before the match. I was fed up with the mask. I asked the doctor if I could play without it, and he told me to do what I want."

This tournament has been challenging for both Mbappe and France as they failed to meet expectations despite their strong start as favourites.