France vs England – World Cup third-place playoff: Prediction, kickoff
Losing semifinalists France and England meet in a playoff for the bronze medal, a day before the World Cup final. Who: France vs England What
Losing semifinalists France and England meet in a playoff for the bronze medal, a day before the World Cup final. Who: France vs England What: FIFA World Cup 2026 – third-place playoff Where: Miami Stadium in Miami, Florida, the United States When: Saturday at 5pm (21:00 GMT) How to follow: We will have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 18:00 GMT before our live text commentary stream. Still reeling from heartbreak, France and England face off in a World Cup match neither would have wanted – a third-place playoff offering little more than a figurative bronze medal. Firm favourites to add a third World Cup title, in-form France were outclassed by stalwarts Spain in the semifinals, while England’s agonising si decade wait for a major trophy continued following a late, cruel defeat to Argentina. A day before the world tunes in to watch the all-important final, France and England will play one last time in North America, hoping to end their disappointing campaign on a positive note – if there is one. Al Jazeera tells you everything about the third-place playoff Deschamps bows out, Mbappe’s silver lining is Golden Boot There is not much to play for in a third-place playoff, and France, who have won two of their three third-place playoffs, know how unexciting the game can be. But Saturday’s contest has a good reason for them to put up another fight – it marks coach Didier Deschamps’ last game in charge of France. Deschamps – who lost his mother during the group stage – has been the France coach for 14 years, during which he led them to the 2018 World Cup title, the 2022 final and this year’s semifinal.
Under the 57-year-old, Les Bleus established themselves as one of the world’s most consistent forces over the past decade, and a third-place finish could be the best way, in the current situation, to draw curtains on his esteemed career. Away from the managerial farewell, there could be more reasons to rejoice within the France camp. Captain and star striker Kylian Mbappe has the opportunity to take home the Golden Boot and match or break the tournament’s all-time scoring record. Mbappe, the current Golden Boot holder, is second in this year’s race behind Lionel Messi, with both tied on eight goals, and the Argentinian’s four assists keep him ahead of Mbappe, who has three. The Frenchman is also just one strike behind Messi in matching the record for the most World Cup goals (21). Should Mbappe beat Messi to the award, the 27-year-old would become the first player to win the Golden Boot twice. The dreaded game nobody wants to play Rarely do you see a World Cup team saying they are not looking forward to playing on the sport’s biggest stage. But competing for a third-place finish in football is not quite like the podium result in track and field. It is a temporary, feel-good moment of a few minutes for most teams – especially those of the calibre of England and France. It leaves players feeling so close, yet so far. “None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said after their loss to Argentina.
The BriefWire