Not referee, we lost to ourselves: Cherki after France’s FIFA World Cup loss to Spain
3 min readJul 15, 2026 03:38 PM While France coach Didier Deschamps blamed the referee for France’s 2-0 defeat to Spain, midfielder Rayan Cherki sang a different tune after the match saying that the Les Blues lost the match to themselves. The Manchester City player also said that Spain played the way they wanted but France couldn’t which led to the defeat.
“It’s a massive disappointment. Because today we lost to ourselves. We didn’t lose to the referee, we didn’t lose to Spain, we only lost to ourselves. Here, you all know, we all know, we strike fear into everyone. The only team capable of eliminating us was ourselves and that’s what happened today,” Cherki said.
“I am only going to speak from my own experience. When I come on, I didn’t feel like Spain were the better team. However, when I was on the bench, yes, it’s true, they moved the ball well, they played in their own half, they play the way they like to play football. We didn’t play the way we like to play football. You’ve felt it until now, when we play our football, it’s extraordinary. But here today, they played the way they wanted and we didn’t,” he added.
“Not the referee, not Spain, we only lost to ourselves” 😬
Rayan Cherki said the France team have only themselves to blame following their World Cup exit at the hands of Spain 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/899lOkvJwm
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) July 15, 2026
France coach Deschamps, who led France to glory in 2018, a final in 2022, and now a semifinal in 2026, had questioned the level of refereeing in the match.
Clearly unimpressed with Salvadoran official Iván Arcides Barton Cisneros, who took charge of the heavyweight clash, Deschamps questioned his ability to officiate a World Cup semifinal.
“If I say anything, I’ll look like a sore loser because we lost,” Deschamps told reporters after the match. “But I ask you: is the referee up to the task of officiating a semifinal? There’s the penalty, but that’s not all; it adds to everything else. I have nothing against the referee tonight, but ask yourselves the question.”
