France midfielder Adrien Rabiot strongly criticized the 'shameful' first half and said he had 'never seen such behavior from some players' after a 6-4 loss to England in the 2026 World Cup third-place match on Saturday in Miami.

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

He added: 'I saw behavior from some players that I have never seen before. It is a bit disappointing because this was our last match to perform 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 chaotic manner.'

The AC Milan player, known for his bluntness, continued: 'We talked at halftime and 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, as well as Guy (Stéphan), Franck (Raviot), and Cyril (Moinne) who did tremendous work and brought this team back to the top with all the players. We would have liked to end with a win so the coach could have a better farewell, but that does not tarnish the image he has among all French people.'

When Didier Deschamps was asked in the press conference about his player's comments, as he was coaching his final match after 14 years at the helm of the French team, he refused to pour fuel on the fire.

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

Deschamps added: 'I should have made some choices from the start of the match, and maybe things would have been better afterwards. Afterwards, each player is judged based on his performance, but judging players or different personalities or temperaments, I have never done that in front of you and I will not end my career like that.'

He admitted: 'Obviously in this match some players could have performed better,' before concluding: 'I wish everyone the best.'