O. Giroud: For the French nation – it's a blow

2026-07-15 11:17 © Reuters

One could say that the French national team really lacked a taller player in the match against Spain, who until now had been Olivier Giroud in several championships.

O. Giroud has only recently surpassed Kylian Mbappé on the list of France's top scorers, who failed to lead "Les Blues" to a second triumph in the World Cup.

After the semifinal match, the striker said on a television program: "France did not show up in the semifinal match. I am really disappointed."

Spain played a great match. From a technical standpoint, they were fantastic. Rodri and Dani Olmo played brilliantly, so respect to them.

For the French nation, this is a blow, but perhaps we had too high expectations. Still, that’s football, and that’s the beauty of this game," said the French football legend.