France star ‘in tears in dressing room’ after England defeat at World Cup

Michael Olise ‘blamed himself’ and broke down in tears in the dressing room after France were beaten 6-4 in a pulsating World Cup bronze-medal match with England.

The two teams put on a show in Miami despite the pain and disappointment of missing out on this weekend’s final, with Declan Rice opening the scoring after only three minutes.

Rice turned provider with an assist for Ezri Konsa to double England’s lead in the 18th minute, before Bukayo Saka made it four with two stunning goals at the end of a breathless first-half performance from Thomas Tuchel’s men.

There was a French fightback after the restart as Kylian Mbappe struck either side of Bradley Barcola’s composed 54th-minute finish to become the highest goalscorer in World Cup history with 22 goals, surpassing the great Lionel Messi.

But Olise missed two gilt-edged chances as Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot, before Ousmane Dembele and Jude Bellingham traded goals at the death to cap off a thrilling contest.

Bellingham’s brilliant 98th-minute effort – his seventh goal of the tournament – saw the Real Madrid star claim the record as the highest scorer of any Englishman at a single World Cup.

Olise, meanwhile, was left to rue his missed opportunities in the second, with the Bayern Munich winger ‘breaking down in tears’ and ‘blaming himself’ for the loss in the French dressing room, according to L’Equipe.

The former Crystal Palace and QPR forward finished France’s campaign without a single goal to his name from eight appearances. He did, though, claim seven assists for Les Bleus – the most from any player in a single World Cup in the last 60 years.

Speaking shortly after the final whistle, an irate Adrien Rabiot made clear his feelings, telling reporters: ‘We started the first half in a rather shameful way.

‘I saw behaviour from some players that I’ve never seen before.’

The France midfielder added: ‘It’s a bit disappointing, because it was the last match to do well in this competition.’

Rabiot lifted the lid on the mood in the French dressing room at half-time, with Didier Deschamps’ men trailing 4-0 and starting down the barrel of a humiliating defeat at Hard Rock Stadium.

He continued: ‘There’s a lot of disappointment after the loss against Spain, but there was work to be done until the very end, and we can’t just allow sloppy things to happen like that.

‘We talked at half-time, we told each other we needed to show some pride, and it was much better in the second half because some of the behaviour in the first half was unacceptable.’

Rabiot made sure to pay tribute to Deschamps, who steps down from his position as head coach this summer, eight years after steering his country to 2018 World Cup glory in Russia.

‘For the rest, we have to highlight the coach, Guy [Stephan), Franck [Raviot], Cyril [Moine] who did a tremendous job and brought this team back to the top with all the players,’ the AC Milan star went on.

‘We would have liked to finish with a victory so that the coach could have a better send-off, but it does not tarnish the image he has with all the French people.’

A visibly disappointed Deschamps took responsibility for the manner of France’s defeat, refusing to single out any of his players for criticism in the aftermath.

‘It was my mistake,’ he said bluntly.

‘I should have made choices from the start of the match, and perhaps things would have gone better afterward.

‘Ultimately, everyone is judged on their performance, but judging players, their characters, their different personalities – I’ve never done that in front of you, and I’m not going to end up like that.

‘Obviously, there are some players who could have done better. I wish them all the best.’

This year’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina will take place on Sunday, July 19 at 8pm BST at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

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