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England will face France in the World Cup third-place play-off on Saturday as they look to bounce back from their dramatic 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina.
The Three Lions’ hopes of ending 60 years of hurt may have been dashed, but their campaign is not quite over yet, and they will now travel to Miami, Florida to take on France in a game neither team will be particularly happy about playing.
Thomas Tuchel’s side conceded twice late on as Argentina came from behind to seal their place in Sunday’s showpiece final, while France were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Spain in the other semi-final.
England have competed in two previous World Cup third-place play-offs, losing 2-1 to hosts Italy in 1990 and 2-0 to Belgium in 2018.
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France, meanwhile, have competed in three third-place play-offs, winning 6-3 against West Germany in 1958 and 4-2 after extra time against Belgium in 1986. Their only loss came in 1982, when they were beaten 3-2 by Poland.
While England will undergo some soul-searching after a bitterly disappointing exit at the hands of Argentina, France will be keen to go out on a high in Didier Deschamps’ final game in charge.
Kylian Mbappe will also have one eye on winning the Golden Boot for a second successive World Cup – the France and Real Madrid forward is currently tied with Lionel Messi for goals scored, but trails the Argentine by one assist heading into the final game of the tournament.
