Rayan Cherki snaps at Lucas Digne question after France team-mate endures horror night in World Cup semi-final loss to Spain

Didier Deschamps' side saw their dreams of reaching the final extinguished as Spain proved too strong in a clinical semi-final display. The deadlock was broken early in the first half when Digne committed a costly foul on Lamine Yamal inside the area, leading to a penalty that was confidently converted by Mikel Oyarzabal to set the tone for the encounter, with Pedro Porro rounding off a dominant 2-0 victory in the second half. In the mixed zone, Cherki was asked about his team-mate's state of mind at the interval, a question that provoked a visceral reaction from the Man City man.

"What do you think I'm going to tell you? That he was crying, that we shoved his head in? No," Cherki snapped. "These things happen in the game, it's football. We have to take him with us, and he has to be with us. We were all together. At halftime, we were all together."

Cherki emphasised the importance of Spain's second goal, which definitively sealed the fate of the match. "We knew the second goal was going to be crucial because in a match like this, at 1-1, it's incredibly difficult to defend. 2-0, it's a completely different story. Today, the disappointment is enormous," he added.

Cherki, who came on in the 72nd minute when the score was already settled, also showed signs of frustration when questioned about his own playing time. When asked if he would have liked to come on earlier, he simply retorted: "What do you think?" before ending the interview.

Cherki delivered a highly critical assessment of the French team's overall performance. "It's a huge, huge disappointment… because today we lost to ourselves," he stated bluntly to the press. "We didn't lose to the referee, we didn't lose to Spain, we lost to ourselves. Here, you all know it, we all know we were a force to be reckoned with. The only team capable of eliminating us was ourselves. And today, that's what happened. We were beaten technically, we were beaten tactically, we were beaten in the duels. It's a very big disappointment today."

Despite the pain of this elimination, France will have to regroup for the final act of their tournament. On Saturday in Miami, they will face the loser of the other semi-final between England and Argentina for a chance to clinch the bronze medal, a clash that offers little consolation for a squad that had set their sights on the trophy. However, for Cherki and his team-mates, the goal will be to finish on a positive note.

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