France manager Didier Deschamps saw his 14-year reign in charge of the national team come to an end with defeat to Spain in the 2026 World Cup semifinals. Les Bleus underperformed, the Spanish were excellent, but Deschamps still had a nagging itch about the officiating.
Refereeing has been a constant topic of conversation throughout this World Cup, from U.S. border officials denying entry to Somalia’s Omar Artan before a ball had even been kicked, to Egypt lodging a formal complaint with FIFA about the refereeing in its dramatic loss to Argentina.
Deschamps didn’t appear to be of the opinion that Spain deserved a penalty for Lucas Digne striking Lamine Yamal with his foot as he attempted to clear the ball. “It’s not just the penalty in question, it’s an accumulation of things,” he said afterwards.
“I ask a question, and I’m not going to answer it: ‘Is the referee good enough to officiate a World Cup semi-final?’ We’ve had a few of those situations, and I’m not going to answer them. I’m not saying this because we lost, but there have been certain situations … often unfavourable to us.”
The match official in question Iván Barton, who has refereed eight World Cup across 2022 and 2026. He has been a FIFA referee since 2018, although his day job officiating in the Primera División de El Salvador might harshly be a reason why Deschamps found issue.
Among the other “situations” France experienced during the World Cup—although Deschamps did not specify—was the round of 16, in which Paraguay committed 13 fouls to France’s 11 but received no yellow cards. In contrast, three French players were cautioned and an appeal into the card shown to Michael Olise—after FIFA set a precedent with the Folarin Balogun saga—was rejected.
“There is obviously a lot of disappointment. The players are devastated because we had high ambitions,” Deschamps added, addressing his team’s status as tournament favorite.
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