England and France meet in the FIFA World Cup third place match on Saturday, July 18, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, with kick off scheduled for 5pm ET (10pm BST). Both sides arrive having fallen at the semi-final stage, England beaten 2-1 by Argentina and France undone 2-0 by Spain, and both will want to leave the tournament with a podium finish rather than an empty-handed exit.
It’s a fixture that rarely gets the attention of the final, yet the England vs France third place playoff carries genuine weight this time around. For England, victory would represent their best World Cup finish in six decades. For France, it’s the last chance to salvage something from a campaign that started with genuine title ambitions and ended in a stunning semi-final no-show.
Why the Third Place Match Still Matters
Critics have long argued the third place match is a game nobody wants to play, scheduled 48 hours after the heartbreak of semi-final elimination when legs and motivation are both running low. FIFA has kept the fixture in place at every World Cup since 1934, and the official FIFA World Cup website continues to treat it as a genuine part of tournament history rather than a footnote.
For England, the stakes are unusually real. Thomas Tuchel’s side reached the last four for the first time since 2018, and a win here would give England their best World Cup finish since the 1966 triumph on home soil. That context turns what might otherwise feel like a dead rubber into a meaningful chance to write a new chapter.
For France, the mood is different. Didier Deschamps has led the national team for fourteen years, guiding them to World Cup glory in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2022. Saturday’s match will be his last game in permanent charge of Les Bleus, adding an emotional layer to what is otherwise a straightforward matter of squad pride and a final data point in a tournament that promised so much more.
How Both Teams Got Here
England’s road to the semi-final ran through wins over DR Congo, Mexico and Norway in the knockout rounds, part of an unbeaten run that carried real momentum into the last four. Against Argentina, Anthony Gordon put England ahead before Enzo Fernández drew the reigning champions level, and Lautaro Martínez struck the winner as Argentina completed a dramatic comeback in Atlanta.
France’s tournament looked close to unstoppable until the semi-final. Deschamps’ side won all six of their previous matches, outscoring opponents 16-2 along the way, and entered the meeting with Spain as one of the form teams left in the competition. Spain had other ideas. Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty in the 22nd minute after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal, and Pedro Porro doubled the lead in the 58th, sealing a 2-0 win that ended France’s bid for a third straight World Cup final. It was, notably, the first game all tournament in which France had trailed.
Team News
England go into the match with a near-full squad to choose from. Reece James returned to training after a hamstring issue that kept him out for much of the knockout stage, giving Tuchel a genuine attacking option at right back. Declan Rice and Marc Guehi also came through their own fitness concerns earlier in the tournament without any fresh issues reported since. The main question for Tuchel is one of motivation and rotation, balancing a group that has just endured the disappointment of missing the final with the pull of finishing on a high.
France have their own selection headache with Kylian Mbappé, who took a knock to his ankle against Morocco in the quarter-final and was managed carefully in training before the Spain game. He played the full 90 minutes in the semi-final and should be available for the third place match barring any late setback. Aurélien Tchouaméni also returned from a hamstring problem in time to feature against Spain, strengthening a midfield that otherwise struggled to impose itself once Spain took control.
Given the nature of the fixture, both managers may be tempted to rotate. Expect some fringe players and academy graduates to get minutes, particularly from the French bench, where Deschamps has regularly turned to Désiré Doué and Rayan Cherki for fresh legs in the closing stages of matches.
Key Players to Watch
Harry Kane leads England’s attack with six goals in the tournament, tied with Jude Bellingham as the squad’s top scorers heading into the weekend. Both have been central to England’s run, with Bellingham’s willingness to drive from midfield complementing Kane’s movement in the box.
For France, Mbappé sits level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot standings with eight goals, and there is a real incentive for him to keep scoring even in a match with no trophy attached. Michael Olise has provided a tournament-high five assists and offers a different kind of creative threat from wide areas, something France will lean on if their front three want one last statement performance.
England vs France Head to Head
England and France have met three times at the World Cup finals, and history slightly favours the Three Lions. England won 2-0 in the 1966 group stage on their way to lifting the trophy, then beat France 3-1 in 1982 thanks to a Bryan Robson brace and a late Paul Mariner goal. The most recent meeting went the other way, with France winning 2-1 in the 2022 quarter-final in Qatar, a game England will remember for Harry Kane’s missed second-half penalty.
Outside the World Cup, the two nations have also crossed paths at three European Championships, with two draws and a narrow French win in 2004. Across the full history of the fixture, England hold the overall advantage, though France have closed the gap considerably over the past two decades with five wins in matches played this century alone.
Tactical Preview
Tuchel’s England have generally set up with a solid defensive base and quick transitions through Bellingham and Kane, a shape that worked well against Norway and Mexico but came unstuck for spells against Argentina’s more direct approach. Expect England to look to control possession against a France side that may be short on confidence in the final third after their flat display against Spain.
France’s attacking trio of Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Olise managed only a handful of shots on target in the semi-final, largely because Spain’s defence gave them no room to operate. If Deschamps’ side can rediscover their fluency in transition, a matchup with England’s back line, missing the settled understanding built over recent camps, could open up chances. Much will depend on whether France treat this as a genuine opportunity to end the tournament well or as a formality to get through before the flight home.
Prediction
Both sides have the attacking quality to make this an open, entertaining match rather than a cautious afterthought. England’s greater tournament momentum and the extra motivation of chasing their best World Cup finish since 1966 gives them a slight edge, though France’s individual talent means the match is unlikely to be one-sided. A narrow England win, built on a set piece or a moment of quality from Kane or Bellingham, looks the most probable outcome, though anyone predicting a draw or a French victory built around Mbappé would have solid reasoning behind it too.
Whatever happens, both teams have a chance to end a long tournament with something to show for it beyond the disappointment of missing the final, and that alone should be enough to make this England vs France third place playoff worth watching.
