"We were a little laborious but our Belgian friends were very motivated and well organised.
"We were probably lacking a bit of bite mentally but physically
everything will fall into place."
France were without star player Zinedine Zidane, who was at the birth of his third child, and first-choice striker Thierry Henry, who had a knee strain.
They went behind in the 20th minute to a goal from Glen de Boeck and equalised through Frank Leboeuf five minutes before half-time, but Wilmots scored the decisive goal after two minutes of injury time.
Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira, who set a new French record of 36 consecutive international appearances in the match, said that defeat could even have a positive effect on France.
"The defeat tonight will perhaps bring us back down to earth,"
he said.
"We're really disappointed for the fans, who were fantastic. It's
never very nice to lose in France but there are lots of lessons to
be learned.