French national team midfielder Adrien Rabiot strongly criticized the 'shameful' first half and 'behavior from some players I've never seen before', following the 6-4 loss to England in the third-place match of the 2026 World Cup on Saturday in Miami.

Rabiot told beIN Sports: 'We went into this first half in a somewhat shameful way', referring to France trailing 4-0 at halftime.

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He added: 'I saw behavior from some players that I have never witnessed before. It is a bit disappointing, because this was our last match to show well in this tournament. There is a lot of disappointment after the loss to Spain, but there was work to be done until the end, and we cannot just handle things in such a haphazard manner.'

The AC Milan player, known for his outspokenness, continued: 'We talked at halftime, and we said we had to show some pride. The performance was much better in the second half, because some of the behavior in the first half was unacceptable.'

He added: 'Other than that, credit must be given to the coach, and to Guy (Stéphane), Franck (Ravio), and Cyril (Moan) who did tremendous work and brought this team back to the top with all the players. We would have liked to finish with a win so the coach could have a better farewell, but that does not tarnish the image he has with all French people.'

When Didier Deschamps was asked in the press conference about his player's comments, as he was coaching his last match in charge of the French national team after 14 years in the position, he refused to fuel the fire.

He said: 'I am the one who made mistakes', refusing to blame any specific player, and confirming that he made four substitutions at halftime, but he 'could have made eight'.

Deschamps added: 'I should have made some choices from the start of the match, and perhaps the situation would have been better afterwards. After that, each player is evaluated based on their performance, but judging players or different personalities and temperaments, I have never done that in front of you and I will not end my career this way.'

He acknowledged: 'It is clear that in this match, some players could have performed better', before concluding: 'I wish the best for everyone.'