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Kylian Mbappé denied a 3rd straight World Cup final but remains in Golden Boot mix with Messi

Sport

Kylian Mbappé denied a 3rd straight World Cup final but remains in Golden Boot mix with Messi
Sport

Sport

Kylian Mbappé denied a 3rd straight World Cup final but remains in Golden Boot mix with Messi

2026-07-15 07:28 Last Updated At:07:30

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kylian Mbappé saw it for himself on the field: France simply didn’t play well enough to reach a third consecutive World Cup final.

The France striker will have to settle for a third-place match and the continuing chase for another Golden Boot award in a tight race with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.

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Spain's Dani Olmo (10) tries to poke the ball away from France's Kylian Mbappe (10) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Spain's Dani Olmo (10) tries to poke the ball away from France's Kylian Mbappe (10) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) gestures after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) gestures after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Spain's Lamine Yamal and France's Kylian Mbappe (10) vie for the ball during a World Cup semifinal soccer match in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Spain's Lamine Yamal and France's Kylian Mbappe (10) vie for the ball during a World Cup semifinal soccer match in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

France's Kylian Mbappe walks the field during a World Cup semifinal soccer match against Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

France's Kylian Mbappe walks the field during a World Cup semifinal soccer match against Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

France's Kylian Mbappe reacts during a World Cup semifinal soccer match against Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

France's Kylian Mbappe reacts during a World Cup semifinal soccer match against Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Mbappé, one of the biggest stars of this year's World Cup and one of the game's greatest scorers, just couldn't generate many chances in his team's 2-0 loss to Spain in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Mbappé and Messi have eight goals each so far at this year's tournament. Mbappé, who won the Golden Boot at the last World Cup four years ago in Qatar, holds the first tiebreaker with a 3-2 lead on assists. Messi and defending champion Argentina will play again on Wednesday in the other semifinal match against England.

Both players will then have one more match before the award is decided. France will play the loser of the other semifinal match in the third-place game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spain will take on the winner in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the final.

“At the end of the day, you take all the glory when you win,” Mbappé said. "When you don’t win ... it’s part of the game. As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility, and I have no problem with that. We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”

Mbappé had the fewest touches of any forward in the first half with 15. Perhaps his most prominent moment was trying to persuade referee Ivan Barton that the penalty resulting in Spain's first goal shouldn't have been called.

The foul by Lucas Digne on teenager Lamine Yamal stood, and Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty kick in the 22nd minute, put Spain ahead for good.

Mbappé's best chance came in the 67th minute when his shot deflected off Spain defender Marc Cucurella and went just wide. La Roja already had a two-goal lead at that point.

“It’s a team who loves to have control of the game, control of the ball,” Mbappé said. “That’s what we let them do. We let the midfield too much time to play, and at the end of the day they had quality to play. It’s difficult when you don’t change the play of Spain. We weren’t at the level to go to the final.”

The 27-year-old Mbappé was issued a yellow card in the 86th minute when he rushed toward Unai Simón just as the Spain goalkeeper was bending over to pick up the ball. The two collided, sending Simón to the grass.

Mbappé started the match against Spain after exiting in the 77th minute of his team’s 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco, when he scored his eighth goal of the tournament.

Mbappé also scored eight goals four years ago in Qatar, where France lost to Messi and Argentina in a penalty shootout in the final. France beat Croatia to win the World Cup eight years ago in Russia.

“They (France) can punish you at every single moment, so I think the focus in every single minute was key in this game,” Spain midfielder Rodri said. “Unbelievable effort by everyone.”

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Spain's Dani Olmo (10) tries to poke the ball away from France's Kylian Mbappe (10) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Spain's Dani Olmo (10) tries to poke the ball away from France's Kylian Mbappe (10) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) gestures after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

France's Kylian Mbappe (10) gestures after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Spain's Lamine Yamal and France's Kylian Mbappe (10) vie for the ball during a World Cup semifinal soccer match in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Spain's Lamine Yamal and France's Kylian Mbappe (10) vie for the ball during a World Cup semifinal soccer match in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

France's Kylian Mbappe walks the field during a World Cup semifinal soccer match against Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

France's Kylian Mbappe walks the field during a World Cup semifinal soccer match against Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

France's Kylian Mbappe reacts during a World Cup semifinal soccer match against Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

France's Kylian Mbappe reacts during a World Cup semifinal soccer match against Spain in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Trump administration officials told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday.

The policy change came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and killed a motorist in Houston, renewing criticism of the agency’s enforcement tactics that were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

In Florida on Tuesday, a third man in roughly a week died during an encounter with immigration officers. This time, a 28-year-old man was killed after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.

The suspension of vehicle stops allows room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations. Matthew Felling, a spokesperson for Maine Sen. Angus King, said the senator’s office was also told by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE was suspending stops.

Hundreds of people in Maine protested Tuesday over the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national.

DHS said Monday that an officer, “fearing for public safety,” shot and killed Durán Guerrero while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the U.S. illegally and facing a final order of removal from the country. It said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop a car driven by someone who came from the home, the person attempted to flee in the vehicle and the officer fired.

That was a shift from how King earlier described the encounter, when he said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon. King said Mullin told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, but not for the man who was shot.

DHS, which oversees ICE, didn’t respond to an email seeking clarity on what led to the shooting.

In a scathing post on X, outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting a targeted killing “at the hands of the U.S. government.”

Petro, who has openly quarreled with U.S. President Donald Trump, urged Trump to provide an explanation and accused ICE officers of treating Durán Guerrero as “an inferior being without rights.”

The shooting also sparked outrage in Maine, where hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday outside an ICE detention center in Scarborough, just up the coast between Biddeford and Portland.

“These people are killers and they must leave our state now,” organizer Todd Chretien told the crowd.

Maine’s congressional delegation on Tuesday demanded a “comprehensive, transparent, and expedited investigation.”

Durán Guerrero's shooting marked at least the ninth time ICE has used deadly force since Trump began his immigration crackdown.

Photos showed bullet holes in Durán Guerrero’s car windshield, but the officers involved in the shooting didn’t have body cameras, leaving many questions. Among them are how close the officer was to the vehicle when they fired, whether officers told Durán Guerrero to stop, and why ICE believes he had put the public in danger.

“We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.

Maine's attorney general’s office, which noted that it’s working with federal agencies to investigate, said initial statements suggest the driver was trying to flee in the direction of the officer, whose name hasn’t been released and who was placed on leave.

The state's other senator, Republican Susan Collins, said Mullin told her that DHS’ Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.

Democrats seeking to unseat Collins in November sought Tuesday to connect her with ICE's methods, which have drawn public scrutiny and derision. Collins later said in a statement that although ICE needs to improve, eliminating the agency would make the nation less safe.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who is vying for Collins' seat, called the ICE officers at the shooting “thugs” during a vigil Tuesday evening in Lewiston.

“That agency is broken and we need to go back to a time where the rule of law united all of us regardless of the politics,” she told the crowd.

According to neighbors and public records, Guerrero lived in an apartment about 150 feet (46 meters) from where his car came to a rest outside an apartment building across the street from a pawnshop and laundromat.

Video from a nearby business' security camera obtained by the AP shows a white car slowly approaching an intersection before making several circles. A law enforcement SUV blocks its path and two officers open the driver’s door and drag out a limp body.

It isn't clear from the video when the shots were fired.

Daniel Boucher said he heard a “pop, pop, pop” and ran to the intersection.

“His face was bloody. His head was bloody,” Boucher said. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop.’”

Boucher said the officer who shot Durán Guerrero walked close to him.

“He looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect,” Boucher said. “I don’t remember his exact words.”

Two advocacy groups — the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! — said Durán Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S.

Neighbors say Durán Guerrero was a friendly and familiar face even though they rarely chatted because he didn’t appear to speak English.

Sadie Dilboy and Cory Poulin, who owns the laundromat near the intersection, said they saw Durán Guerrero all the time.

Claudia Morton, who often waved to Durán Guerrero, was distraught. “The whole world should be crying,” she said.

Brook reported from New Orleans and Sisak from New York. Associated Press reporters Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Dr. Nirav Shah, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, attends a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) CORRECTION: Corrects ID to Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero NOT Joan Sebastian Guerrero

Dr. Nirav Shah, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, attends a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) CORRECTION: Corrects ID to Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero NOT Joan Sebastian Guerrero

A man yells at a woman working security near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A man yells at a woman working security near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Protesters gather near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) CORRECTION: Corrects ID to Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero NOT Joan Sebastian Guerrero

Protesters gather near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) CORRECTION: Corrects ID to Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero NOT Joan Sebastian Guerrero

A man yells at a woman working security near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A man yells at a woman working security near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Protesters gather near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Protesters gather near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Protesters gather near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Protesters gather near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Scarborough, Maine, one day after the shooting of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Dr. Nirav Shah, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to reporters a day after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Dr. Nirav Shah, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to reporters a day after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Attendees stand during a vigil after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Attendees stand during a vigil after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A demonstrator fights back tears at an anti-ICE rally after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A demonstrator fights back tears at an anti-ICE rally after a man was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Blood is seen on the pavement near the scene of a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Monday, July 13, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Blood is seen on the pavement near the scene of a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Monday, July 13, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A man pauses to view a makeshift memorial to the victim of a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A man pauses to view a makeshift memorial to the victim of a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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