EXCLUSIVE: World Cup Winner Frank Leboeuf on England's Exit, Tuchel's Blunder and Why Spain Will Demolish Argentina in the Final

July 17, 2026 at 6:00 pm GMT+1

Spain face Argentina in the World Cup Final on Sunday, with Frank Leboeuf watching it all unfold from inside the United States, and he has plenty to say.

The 1998 World Cup winner with France, and former Chelsea and France international, joined us exclusively for a wide-ranging final preview. He covered England's catastrophic tactical collapse against Argentina, Thomas Tuchel's future, Kylian Mbappé's Ballon d'Or chances, his bold final prediction, and, from a personal perspective, why he won't be shedding any tears if Enzo Fernández leaves Chelsea this summer.

Here's what Frank had to say, and don't forget to check out the best World Cup Free Bets & Betting Sites, courtesy of Free Bets.

IN FULL: FRANK LEBOEUF'S WORLD CUP FINAL SPECIAL

ENGLAND'S EXIT: "IT'S NOT ARGENTINA WHO WON, IT'S ENGLAND WHO LOST"

Frank does not hold back on what he witnessed in Atlanta.

"England had the game in their hands for an hour. I thought for sure after scoring that goal they would carry on attacking and trying to finish it with that fighting spirit. And they dropped like crazy. Everyone who knows a little bit of football could see they got scared. Against an Argentinian team with the talent of Messi, you're going to be punished at a certain point. It's not Argentina who won, it's England who lost."

He points the finger not just at Tuchel, but at the senior players on the pitch.

"I don't want to blame Tuchel 100%. If I'm John Stones, if I'm Jordan Pickford with the experience they have, I push the team up after the goal. They concede on Enzo Fernández's goal and only Jude Bellingham makes a sprint towards him. The nine other players are on the same line and they don't move. That's unbearable for me. I feel very sad for the English, for the players, for the federation, and of course for the fans. It shouldn't have happened. We did something like that with France in 1982, leading 3-1 against Germany and dropping back. When I played the final in 98 with all my friends, we said: we don't go back there. I really hope it's something that happened once and is a good experience for everybody."

TUCHEL: "ENGLAND'S FIGHTING SPIRIT? I COULDN'T FIND IT"

Frank is unsparing in his assessment of Tuchel's approach, and raises a deeper question about whether a foreign coach can ever truly understand England.

"He made the same mistake at Bayern against Real Madrid. Nobody should be surprised by the way he was thinking in that game, it's what he always does. But I never thought a German coach can coach an English national team. We are talking about national teams. You have to understand the culture. You have to be born there in order to manage those players. England, the fighting spirit we've always talked about for the past 40 or 50 years, I couldn't find it there. Maybe only an English coach can understand that and make sure the players find that spirit back. He's a lovely guy, but he made a mistake. And at that level it becomes a big mistake."

WHAT ENGLAND NEED TO CHANGE

Drawing on his own World Cup-winning experience, Frank explains exactly what England should have done differently.

"Playing defensively against a team of that quality would have been the biggest mistake in the world, like England did against Argentina. We knew that in corner kicks Brazil weren't good and we scored two goals in corner kicks, we were 100% on that because it was a great option. You have to have the confidence of what you are capable of doing. And you have to keep working hard offensively even when you score, because you know you're vulnerable straight after scoring a goal."

WILL ENGLAND EVER WIN A WORLD CUP?

On whether England can break their long wait, Frank is honest.

"You will have to win a World Cup in order to change the mentality. We didn't know how to win one before 1998. The English players mostly stayed in England, they're stepping up, getting better every World Cup in mentality. I found the team very much sticking to each other, which was impossible before. But it's only when they're going to win a World Cup that everything will change. The one in '66 is way too far, you can't use that to get the confidence you need. Argentina don't have that problem. I think it's time for Spain to win the World Cup to get that confidence back as well."

FRANCE'S EXIT: "A FAILURE OF INDIVIDUALS"

Frank is equally honest about France's own semi-final disappointment against Spain.

"Simply a failure of individuals. We didn't see Michael Olise, we didn't see Ousmane Dembélé, we saw just a little bit of Mbappé and a little bit of Barcola. We needed all four to be at their best and unfortunately they weren't. Against a fantastic Spanish team, it doesn't work. That's why France aren't in the final."

MBAPPÉ AND THE BALLON D'OR: "IF HE DOESN'T WORK FOR THE TEAM, HIS TEAM WILL NEVER WIN ANYTHING"

Frank gives a fascinating and nuanced take on Mbappé's Ballon d'Or chances.

"I'm not a big fan of the Ballon d'Or, I don't like individual awards in a collective sport. But Mbappé is a great individual player with great skill and incredible confidence. If he doesn't understand, like he did for this World Cup, that he has to work for the team, he will never get the Ballon d'Or because his team will never win anything. That's the problem at Champions League level, at World Cup level. Liverpool, Paris Saint Germain, they win the Champions League through team effort, everybody sweats for each other. Maybe he has changed his attitude and maybe it will work at Real Madrid. If he wants the Ballon d'Or, he needs to help his teammates."

FRANK'S FINAL PREDICTION: SPAIN 4-0 ARGENTINA

Frank does not shy away from a bold prediction.

"Spain is the best team in the world right now and there is no doubt. When you have Rodri and you know that Pedri has to be on the bench because other players are seen as better, that's almost unbelievable. I'll go 4-0 for Spain. Spain will score one goal and keep working offensively to score another and finish Argentina, like PSG against Inter Milan last year. You try to react and the team is so strong in front of you that they finish you. It can be terrible for Argentina. Well, it will probably actually be 2-1, but I'll say 4-0."

PAU CUBARSÍ AND LIONEL MESSI: YOUNG PLAYER AND PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT

Frank has two clear winners when it comes to individual awards.

"Best young player, Pau Cubarsí. The guy is insanely good, insanely calm and insanely mature for his age. I love it. And you feel the humility on top of it. I wish him a great career because he could very well win everything.

"And I'm sorry when you have somebody 39 years old scoring eight goals in the World Cup, you cannot avoid saying Messi is the man of the tournament. Against England, everybody was tired, but the guy kept on running. He made that cross for Lautaro Martínez, overtaking two players, and the guy is 39. Messi has to be named best player of the tournament, for sure."

CHELSEA: ENZO FERNÁNDEZ, XABI ALONSO AND THE TRANSFER SUMMER

As a former Chelsea player, Frank pulls no punches on the club's summer ahead.

On Enzo Fernández: "What he did, singing that song about French players, was really inappropriate and mostly racist. And saying it would be interesting to move to Real Madrid, that said he didn't care about Chelsea in a way. He's a great player, I can say nothing about his talent. But as a man, it's complicated for me. If he wants to go, thank you for what you've done for Chelsea, but I won't regret you."

On Xabi Alonso: "I really love the way Xabi Alonso thinks about football. But if you don't give him all the tools to decide, if you don't allow him to be a real manager, the transfer system may not allow him to sign somebody over 25 or 26. I really hope he's going to bring in experienced players because that's the key to success."

On his transfer wish: "The first one I'd want is Granit Xhaka from Sunderland. He has proven at Arsenal, Leverkusen and Sunderland that he's the man to make sure the young players follow. He knows exactly what he's doing and everybody will follow. He's the right example of somebody coming to Chelsea."

On Chelsea's Premier League ambitions: "Let's say top four. Nobody, except Arsenal, really knows what's going to happen. Guardiola's left City, Liverpool have a new coach, Tottenham have question marks. Even Arsenal seems a little in doubt. I want to go back to when nobody knows, that is the big fight. That is what we love about the Premier League. The last two years were pretty much boring."