"The Blues made us dream," tweeted French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended from the stands in Qatar the defeat of France against Argentina in the final of the World Cup.
The country of Lionel Messi beat that of Kylian Mbappé on penalties (4 pens to 2, 3-3 after extra time) at the end of a legendary match, during which France were led until scoring a penalty in the 80th minute of play.
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World Cup: The complete table of the final phase
All World Cup match results
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On leaving the locker room, Mr. Macron explained that he shared his sadness with the players, "especially like that because we came so close to the goal".
"And at the same time, what I said to the players was that they had made us immensely proud and that they had made us vibrate".
He invited them to "digest" this defeat.
Macron in support of Mbappé
In front of the journalists, he particularly insisted on the “extraordinary” performance of Kylian Mbappé.
“Look: we have one tonight who scored three, who is a huge player, he happened to miss penalties, he digested”.
"That's what makes very great players," added the Head of State, referring to "one of the greatest World Cup finals".
“He is only 24 years old and I say it frankly, I am not the best placed to try to reason with people tonight because I was at least as sad as him”, added Mr. Macron.
“What this match also tells us is that there is never a scenario written in advance, that it is always possible”, insisted Mr. Macron again, observing that the Blues had “found the hungry” after the first hour of play. He assured that he would receive the team at the Élysée but without specifying a date.
The president will travel to the French aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle off Egypt on Monday for the traditional Christmas party with the troops.
Argentina-France: discover the final in pictures
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