France suffered a 2-0 defeat to Spain in their semi-final, with Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro getting the goals for the European champion.

Les Bleus struggled to click in attack, and instead of playing in a third straight final this weekend, they will instead be playing in the third-place play-off.

Excluding penalties, this was just France's second defeat in a World Cup knockout-stage match across its last 23, along with a 1-0 loss to Germany in 2014 in the quarter-finals.

France finished the match with just 10 shots, while Spain scored with both of its attempts on target .

Deschamps, who, as manager of France, has lost more games against Spain than any other nation, admitted his side was to blame for their exit.

"The players are devastated, but we have to be logical; we were technically inferior," he said. "It's our fault. 

"There were quite a few situations… But the primary reason is that we were simply below par, with some technical errors, passes that could have led to chances. This is the very highest level, even if it hurts.

"We're going to play the third-place match. I don't want to dismiss everything that's been done, but in this match, Spain showed something extra.

"I'm not thinking about myself, I prepared for the match with the players and the goal of doing everything to go all the way. 

"We didn't succeed; the disappointment is strong. But I don't take away from all the good things we did. I thought we had recovered very well… I don't take anything away from the Spanish team, who controlled the game.

"We lacked technical precision and energy. The Spanish are very good at breaking up attacks with anticipation and passes. We would have liked to create more problems for them offensively."

France failed to record a first-half shot on target in three of its seven World Cup games.

It had only happened in four of its previous 59 games in the competition on record (since 1966).

France has also never won a World Cup game when it has trailed at half-time, and Rayan Cherki noted it could have managed the occasion better.

"I don't know what to tell you, they were better in every aspect of the game," Cherki said. "They wanted it more than we did. I'm convinced we're a better team, but they were better than us [in the semi-final]. They didn't put on a crazy amount of pressure; it wasn't a full-court press, there was time to play.

"Maybe we didn't manage our emotions well. I think right now, we need to process it. It's very hard because when you see the passion around us and all the people gathered behind the flag, it's heartbreaking."