Didier Deschamps questions World Cup semi-final referee after France beaten by Spain

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The Independent

15 July 2026

Didier Deschamps

questioned whether referee Ivan Barton was the right official to oversee a

World Cup

semi-final after

France

were beaten by

Spain

A 2-0 defeat in Dallas marked

a disappointing end to Deschamps’ time in charge, with the manager set to depart after Saturday’s third place play-off and expected to be succeeded by Zinedine Zidane.

Deschamps led

glory in 2018 and reached the final four years ago, but

saw his side dominated in midfield particularly

during a semi-final where his forward line failed to fire.

Spain took a first-half lead through Mikel Oyarzabal from the penalty spot after

Lucas Digne

had

struck Lamine Yamal while trying to clear a bouncing ball.

Didier Deschamps was not pleased with the officials in Dallas (Reuters)

The spot-kick was awarded by

experienced Salvadoran referee Barton

, who was whistling his fourth game of the tournament at his second

and is a regular in some of Concacaf’s biggest competitions.

A beaten Deschamps felt, though, that certain decisions went against his side in a strange swipe at the official.

“There’s obviously a lot of disappointment,” Deschamps said. “The players are devastated because we had high hopes. Even so, we have to be realistic and acknowledge that today we were a step behind technically against a team that played very well. It’s our fault, first and foremost.”

“Next, I’ll ask a question, but I’m not going to answer it: ‘Is the referee qualified to officiate a

semi-final?’ We’ve had a few of those, and I’m not going to answer that. And it’s not because we lost that I’m saying this, but there were certain situations… Often against us too.”

Spain will face either England or Argentina in Sunday’s

final, with

awaiting the loser of that match in the battle for third.

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