France and England will fight for the bronze medal of the 2026 World Cup in a match with more prestige than sporting incentives, which will also mark the farewell of Didier Deschamps as the French coach after fourteen years in charge of the team.
The EFE agency pointed out that the coach of Les Bleus closes one of the most successful cycles of the French national team, with a world title won in 2018 and a Nations League obtained in 2021, as well as having reached the finals of the 2016 Euro and the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
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France and England go for third place in the World Cup: follow the minute by minute
The match will be played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and will give Frenchman Kylian Mbappé the opportunity to temporarily surpass Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot of the tournament, after the Argentine equaled him and surpassed him in the tiebreaker criterion thanks to his assists in the semifinals.
According to EFE, Mbappé and Messi have scored eight goals in the championship, but the captain of Argentina leads the ranking for having registered four assists, one more than the French forward. This circumstance has caused the atmosphere in the French camp to be more optimistic than that surrounding England.
Deschamps assured that his team will do “everything possible” to secure third place, while Mbappé insisted on the need to quickly change the mindset after the defeat suffered against Spain in the semifinals.
In contrast, the English coach, Thomas Tuchel, acknowledged after the elimination against Argentina that this is a match that no footballer wants to play.
“None of our players, nor the French, want to play this consolation match. Everyone plays to win the World Cup,” he said, although he emphasized that England will face the match “with total professionalism.”
Tuchel was the main target of criticism after the semifinal defeat due to his team’s defensive approach in the final minutes, a situation that allowed Argentina’s comeback.
The rematch of Qatar 2022
With no chance to compete for the title, the third-place match will be a matter of pride for two teams that maintain a historic rivalry.
The last time France and England faced each other in a World Cup was in the quarterfinals of Qatar 2022. On that occasion, the French team won 2-1, after Harry Kane missed a penalty that would have meant the equalizer in the 85th minute.
That was France’s first victory over England in World Cup history, after defeats suffered in the England 1966 and Spain 1982 editions. The rivalry between the two teams has also been fueled by multiple encounters in the Euro and friendly matches.
Follow the minute by minute of the match here
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