France and England will face off this Saturday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for the third place in the , a match between two teams that reached the semifinals and fell just short of the grand final.
The Blues fell 0-2 to Spain on Tuesday in Arlington, with goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro, while the Three Lions lost 1-2 to Argentina on Wednesday in Atlanta in a match decided in the 90+2 minute, with the decisive goal scored by Lautaro Martínez with a header from a cross by Messi.
The match, scheduled for 5:00 PM Cuba time, will be the 33rd between the two teams and the fourth in World Cup history. The overall record favors England, with 17 victories compared to France's 10 and five draws, but recent events tell a very different story.
In their last nine matches, the English team has achieved only one victory: a friendly match won 2-0 at Wembley in November 2015, with goals from Dele Alli and Wayne Rooney. In official matches, England has not defeated France since the 1982 World Cup in Spain, when they won 3-1 in the group stage with a brace from Bryan Robson — the first goal coming just 27 seconds in, the fastest goal by England in the history of the competition — and a goal from Paul Mariner.
The most recent World Cup encounter between the two was in the quarter-finals of Qatar 2022, where France won 2-1 with goals from Aurélien Tchouaméni and Olivier Giroud. Harry Kane equalized with a penalty, but he missed another spot-kick six minutes before the end that could have forced extra time.
France arrives with more experience in this type of match: they will be competing in their fourth bronze medal final, a figure only surpassed by Germany, which has five. The Bleus have won two of their three previous matches, with victories over Germany in 1958 (6-3) and Belgium in 1986 (4-2), while their only defeat was against Poland in 1982 (2-3). Notably, that victory over Belgium in Mexico 1986 is the only third-place match in World Cup history that required extra time.
In contrast, England lost both times it played this match: 1-2 against Italy in 1990 and 0-2 against Belgium in 2018. A new defeat would tie it with Uruguay as the team with the most losses in third place matches, with three.
The match will also have implications for the Golden Boot race. Kylian Mbappé, with eight goals and three assists in the tournament, will seek to extend his lead in the scoring chart before the final on Sunday between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Beyond the disappointment of not reaching the grand final, both teams will have the opportunity to end the World Cup with a victory and secure a spot on the podium. For France, it would mean reaffirming their recent dominance over the English; for the Three Lions, it would be a chance to break an unfavorable streak that has persisted for more than four decades in official matches.
Related videos:
Filed under: