France coach Didier Deschamps admitted the lengthy delay before Kylian Mbappé’s first half penalty against Morocco created frustration for his captain, openly agreeing with Erling Haaland’s criticism of the incident after Les Bleus booked their place in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals.
Mbappé saw his spot kick saved by Morocco goalkeeper Bono during France’s eventual 2-0 quarter final victory, but the build up to the penalty became a talking point after an extended wait while match officials completed a series of checks before allowing the kick to be taken.
Asked about Haaland’s social media post claiming the delay had taken far too long, Deschamps offered a straightforward response.
“I agree with Haaland,” the France manager said.
Deschamps explained that the prolonged interruption was unusual and appeared to involve multiple checks before the referee finally authorized Mbappe to take the penalty.
“I had the impression there was a VAR verification, that the referee confirmed it, and then there was another call to see if there was a mistake,” he said.
“It took almost two minutes.”
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The France boss revealed Mbappe had already completed his preparations before being forced to wait, an interruption he believes naturally affected the moment.
“Kylian Mbappé was already ready to shoot,” Deschamps explained.
“I’m not going to find an excuse for him… but it can cause a bit of frustration.”
Despite acknowledging the disruption, Deschamps refused to blame the delay for the missed penalty, insisting elite players must adapt to unexpected situations during major tournaments.
“You have to adapt,” he said.
“The main thing is to stay firm.”
Mbappé demonstrated exactly that resilience after the interval.
Rather than allowing the disappointment to define his evening, the France captain responded by breaking the deadlock on the hour mark with a superb curling effort from outside the penalty area before Ousmane Dembele added a second goal to secure France’s place in a third consecutive World Cup semi final.
Deschamps pointed to his captain’s reaction as further evidence of his mental strength, stressing that the penalty miss never dented France’s belief.
“We didn’t have the efficiency in the first half,” he said.
“But that doesn’t put doubt in the heads of my players, even less in Kylian’s.”
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