Didier Deschamps, the head coach for France, has provided an explanation for why his team was defeated by Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday.
The reigning champions were outplayed by Lionel Messi and his teammates for the majority of the game. As a result, they found themselves trailing by two goals after Messi scored from the penalty spot and Angel Di Maria added another.
However, Kylian Mbappe scored two incredible goals to send the game into extra time and force a draw.
Both Messi and Mbappe scored once more inside of the first half's last quarter to send the match to penalties.
To ensure Argentina's victory in the tournament, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made two saves, one each against Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni.
"Due to a variety of factors, we were unable to make it" (in the first 60 minutes). Over the course of the past four days, we have been required to deal with challenging circumstances. Illness, in addition to other things taken together," Deschamps explained to beIN Sports.