Southgate had reshaped the team during his largely successful tenure, breaking down barriers between players from rival clubs and forging a cohesive unit.
Mbappe pinpointed the crux of the problem in midfield, where France's duo of Rabiot and Tchouameni rapidly found themselves over-run by Spain's triumvirate.
Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation says Rajoy’s comments carried an “intolerable undertone of racism”, in a post on social media.
The Atletico Madrid forward scored Argentina’s decisive second goal in the 112th minute in Kansas City to finally end the resistance of the European team.
Apart from a disastrous showing by Tunisia, who axed coach Sabri Lamouchi after their first group game and lost all three matches, African flag-bearers proved competitive, justifying their presence.
England boosted by return to training of Decland Rice, Marc Guehi and Reece James; Argentina's Messi will be bidding to add to the 21 goals he has scored across the six World Cups in which he has played.
A future with cameras and AI adjudicating matches in real time is unlikely simply because fans have already reached their limit, network scientist says.
This World Cup has exposed uncomfortable questions about FIFA’s independence, credibility and commitment to its own principles of political neutrality.
