France coach Didier Deschamps described the end of his country's career in the 2022 World Cup as harsh, after losing to Argentina on penalties, in an exciting confrontation that ended in a 3-3 draw in its original and extra games.
Deschamps' team struggled to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 draw, then from 3-2 down to 3-3 in extra time thanks to Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick, while Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Choameni missed penalties, only to lose in the end.
"It's tough, but that's football," Deschamps said after the match. "Our career was beautiful, but the end hurts."
Deschamps, who won the title as a player and coach, added, “We were not ready in the first half, individually and collectively. In a match, when we come back from nothing (2-0) and come close and touch something and it slips away, it's more difficult to absorb (the loss), but we have to accept it.
He continued, "Kolo Mwani would have scored the fourth goal in the last minute before resorting to penalties. We played a beautiful hour with a fighting spirit, but the task was not easy against a stubborn team."
He praised Argentina, saying, "The tournament started badly with a loss from Saudi Arabia, but it regained vitality, enjoyed experience and deserves praise."
The French coach avoided talking about his future in the position he assumed in 2012, and said, "I will meet with the president of the French Federation later, and every incident has a conversation."
For his part, player Raphael Varane commented on the loss and admitted feeling frustrated, due to the failure to defend the World Cup title.
Varane said, "We are very disappointed, of course, we did our best. We had to deal with many obstacles during the tournament, and we did not give up at all. We did not enter the atmosphere of the match for an hour."
He added, "We could have won too. I am very proud of this group and of being French. We keep our heads held high. We came back to the result when it was difficult."
He continued, "We sought to win and we believed in our chances until the end. We almost turned the match upside down if it was not in our favor. This group has mental toughness and great courage. This allowed us to get back in the match. We are disappointed, but we are also proud."
In turn, captain Hugo Lloris said, "The Argentines started the match strongly, played offensively and took advantage of all aspects of the game. We were somewhat conservative throughout the match."
Before the final match, a number of players missed the French national team's training after falling ill over the past week, but Lloris refused to use their illness as an excuse to justify the loss.
"We will not make any excuses, we did our best. You have to congratulate the players because they did not give up until the end."