France coach Didier Deschamps says they lost the World Cup final to Argentina after a poor first-half performance in the game.
Despite taking Argentina to the wire and only narrowly missing out on the World Cup trophy on penalties, Deschamps admitted France “utterly failed to show up” in the first half, which cost them the match.
He said: “We utterly failed to show up in the 1st half. We expected (their intensity), we neither had the correct attitude nor the correct response.
“It will take a lot to worry them and come back. They are really playing a World Cup final.”
The French camp was struck with a virus ahead of the final, as Adrien Rabiot, Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman were forced to sit out the semi-final against Morocco through illness.
All three recovered to feature in the final, although Coman missed a crucial penalty for France in the shoot-out.
Deschamps added: “We didn’t turn up for different reasons (in the 1st 60 minutes). We have had to face difficult things in the last 4 days. Illness and then things collectively too.”
