Kylian Mbappé had classiest answer about France's failure in World Cup loss

Kylian Mbappé is not used to falling short of an appearance in a men's World Cup Final. In each of his first two World Cups with France, Mbappé played in the final on both occasions, with a win in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2022.

Kylian Mbappé is not used to falling short of an appearance in a men's World Cup Final. In each of his first two World Cups with France, Mbappé played in the final on both occasions, with a win in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2022. But after a dominant Spain team tore France up in a 2-0 victory in the World Cup semifinals on Tuesday, Mbappé's French side will have to settle for a third-place finish, at best, for the first time.

(He probably doesn't enjoy seeing Lamine Yamal play on the other team, at this point.) This French failure will not be well received back home, as France is one of the few teams in the tournament with World Cup-or-bust expectations. In a credit to Mbappé, he decided to wear this failure as the French captain fully.

In a post-match interview with Fox's Jenny Taft, a classy Mbappé said that France losing to Spain while falling short of a World Cup title is ultimately his responsibility. That's not true, as soccer is a team game. France, as a team, simply wasn't good enough.

It speaks volumes that Mbappé said it out loud anyway. (Warning: Explicit language below.) Kudos to Mbappé.

It is sequences like this that show he is a real leader in every sense of the word. When is France's third-place game in the World Cup? Mbappé and France will play for third place on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern against either Argentina or England.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Kylian Mbappé had classiest answer about France's failure in World Cup loss