World Cup third-place playoff: What are France and England playing for?
France and England will have to pick themselves up from crushing World Cup semifinal defeats for Saturday’s third-place game. France’s hopes of reaching a third
France and England will have to pick themselves up from crushing World Cup semifinal defeats for Saturday’s third-place game. France’s hopes of reaching a third successive World Cup final were emphatically ended by Spain in a 2-0 defeat on Tuesday, while England suffered their own heartbreak a day later with a 2-1 loss to Argentina. With both teams physically and emotionally drained after deep runs through the expanded 48-team tournament, however, the traditional bronze-medal match may feel like an unwanted assignment for players who arrived in North America dreaming of lifting the trophy. “None of these players, none of the French players want to play this match. They want to play in the final. We gave everything to be in the final,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said.
But others may be more motivated, with Didier Deschamps taking charge of Les Bleus for the final time and Kylian Mbappe chasing individual history. Deschamps’ farewell The Miami match will bring down the curtain on Deschamps’ 14-year reign, during which he led France to the 2018 World Cup title, the final four years later and three successive World Cup semifinals. While the 57-year-old had hoped to leave with a second world title as a coach, Saturday offers his players one last opportunity to send off the man who established France as one of international football’s most consistent forces over the past decade. Golden Boot race France are expected to rotate their starting lineup significantly, giving opportunities to players who have featured less during the tournament, while Tuchel could take a similar approach after his side’s exhausting campaign.
There could, however, be one compelling reason for France captain Mbappe to start. The 27-year-old has scored eight goals at this World Cup and 20 in the tournament overall, leaving him in contention for the Golden Boot and within reach of the all-time scoring record. Argentina’s Lionel Messi currently tops the charts with eight goals and four assists (which are used as tiebreakers when the number of goals is level) and holds the all-time record with 21 goals. With little collective pressure attached to the third-place playoff, the match could offer Mbappe a final opportunity to turn a disappointing end to France’s campaign into another landmark moment in a career already defined by the World Cup. Meanwhile, England’s Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham both have six goals and have an outside chance of claiming the Golden Boot – if they feature.
The BriefWire