French Federation Files Formal Complaint Alleging Spain “Trained More and Better” Ahead of Semifinal, Calls It “A Clear Violation of the Spirit of the Sport”

The French Football Federation filed a formal complaint with FIFA on Thursday alleging that Spain gained an unfair advantage in their World Cup semifinal by “training more and training better,” a practice the federation described as “contrary to the spirit of the sport” and “not something France was expecting anyone to do.”

The 38-page filing, submitted to FIFA's Disciplinary Committee and copied to UEFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, argues that Spain engaged in a “systematic and premeditated programme of tactical preparation, physical conditioning, and set-piece rehearsal” in the weeks leading up to the July 14 semifinal in Dallas, which Spain won 2–0.

“This was not a football match,” FFF president Philippe Diallo wrote in the filing's opening paragraph. “It was a competition between two teams, one of which had prepared for it and one which had not. France arrived in Dallas in good faith. Spain arrived in Dallas in good shape. These are not the same thing.”

The complaint details seven specific allegations. The first concerns what the FFF calls “the Rodri situation,” in which Spain's midfielder Rodri “was permitted to control the entire match without being approached, pressured, or in any way inconvenienced by a French player for ninety minutes,” which the filing attributes to “a coordinated Spanish strategy of positioning players in areas of the pitch where they could receive the ball and then do things with it.”

The second concerns Lamine Yamal, who won a penalty in the 22nd minute. The filing alleges that Yamal “had clearly practiced dribbling prior to the tournament,” a skill the FFF says “was not disclosed to the French camp and which our defenders had no opportunity to prepare for, since we assumed he would just run in a straight line.”

The third concerns Mikel Oyarzabal, who converted the penalty and scored what the filing calls “a goal that was rehearsed,” as opposed to the French model, which the FFF describes as “goals that happen naturally, by instinct, usually by Mbappé, usually in the 80th minute, usually when we are already losing.”

When asked at a press conference whether the complaint was serious, Diallo said: “We are deadly serious. Spain trained. They trained more than us. They trained better than us. The result was 2–0. We see a causal link and we believe FIFA should too.”

The filing includes a section titled “Comparative Preparation Analysis” that compares the two teams' training schedules in the week before the semifinal. Spain's schedule, according to the FFF's own annex, includes “tactical sessions, video analysis, set-piece drills, and a focused period of physical recovery.” France's schedule, in the same annex, includes “tactical sessions, video analysis, set-piece drills, and a focused period of physical recovery.” When asked to explain the difference, a federation source said: “They did it better.”

The FFF is requesting that the semifinal result be annulled, that the match be replayed “under conditions of equal preparation,” and that FIFA introduce a rule requiring both teams to “train the same amount, in the same way, with the same drills, so that no one has an advantage.” When it was noted that this would make training a draw rather than a match, the source said: “Yes.”

Noël Le Graët, the FFF's former president who resigned in 2023 after a harassment investigation, was not involved in the filing but did tell a reporter from L'Équipe: “I don't see the problem. When I was president, we also didn't train. We still reached the final in 2022. You don't need to train. You need Mbappé.” He then asked if anyone had seen his coat.

France's forward line of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, and Michael Olise, valued at approximately €450 million, generated 0.26 expected goals in the semifinal, a number the FFF filing describes as “a statistical anomaly caused by Spain's decision to defend in an organised manner,” a practice the document calls “unsportsmanlike and previously unseen in international football.”

At time of writing, FIFA has not responded to the complaint. A source within FIFA's legal department described the filing as “the strongest case we have ever received for the proposition that losing is someone else's fault.”

The final is on Sunday. Spain will play Argentina. France will play England in the third-place match on Saturday. France has not yet decided whether to train for it.