Ibrahima Konate's stint with the French national team hasn't been quite as glorious as his success at Liverpool, where he ended the domestic season with Premier League silverware.
Following France's dramatic and nail-biting 5-4 loss to Spain in the UEFA Nations League semifinal, with Germany and Liverpool target Florian Wirtz losing the other semifinal to Portugal, the Reds defender has been cast in a harsh light. Konate has found himself under intense scrutiny.
While Didier Deschamps' players performed a commendable late comeback in Stuttgart, reducing their deficit from 5-1 down, the media were not so forgiving. L'Equipe, known for its stringent ratings, scored Konate a mere two out of 10 – a score shared with four of his teammates, criticising his "very nervous" performance.
Marca went even further, opting to withhold a rating altogether for Konate alongside three other French players.
"We had some bursts of play we haven't had for a long time," said France captain Kylian Mbappe. "But in just 10 minutes of the first half, we conceded two goals, and the same thing happened in the second half.
"We weren't consistent throughout the 90 minutes, but we did improve. It's not all negative."
Konate helped Liverpool win the 2024-25 Premier League title
Konate helped Liverpool win the 2024-25 Premier League title (Image: Getty Images)
Deschamps added: "I'm not here to point fingers, but I have a backline who are used to working together.
"(This was) about finding another line who aren't used to playing together. I'm not going to give up on this defence. There were mitigating circumstances.
"But Spain have this capability to be very efficient. We were able to score goals too."
With Germany awaiting in the third-place play-off on Sunday, Konate will be keen to redeem himself.
In other international fixtures featuring Liverpool talent, Alisson Becker secured a clean sheet for Brazil against Ecuador, marking Carlo Ancelotti's first match managing the Selecao. This kept Brazil's World Cup qualifying hopes within reach.
The South American group standings put Brazil comfortably in a qualifying position.
Elsewhere in the continent, Alexis Mac Allister was absent from Argentina's victorious 1-0 squad against Chile. Darwin Nunez also missed out on action for Uruguay due to suspension, having to watch from afar as his team fell 2-0 to Paraguay.
Wataru Endo, who was left on the bench for Japan's latest qualifier, saw no action as his team suffered a 1-0 defeat in Australia, despite having already secured its spot in next summer's tournament in the United States.