CORNERFLICK
France and England meet in the World Cup third-place play-off on Sunday, with both teams looking to finish the tournament with bronze after losing in the semi-finals.
France arrived at the last four in strong form, beating Senegal 3-1, Iraq 3-0 and Norway 4-1 to top Group I before knocking out Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco. Didier Deschamps’ side had hoped to reach a third straight final, but Spain beat them 2-0 in Dallas.
England’s route was more up and down. They opened with a 4-2 win over Croatia, drew 0-0 with Ghana and beat Panama to win Group L, before edging the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico and Norway in the knockout rounds. Their run ended in the semi-finals, where Argentina came from behind to win 2-1.
This will be France’s fourth third-place match. They won the bronze medal in 1958 and 1986, and lost the 1982 play-off. England are taking part in the fixture for the third time, having lost it in 1990 and 2018.
The teams have met 32 times in total, including three World Cup games. France won their last meeting, a 2-1 quarter-final in Qatar in 2022, and Kylian Mbappé now has the chance to add to his eight goals and move ahead of Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, both on six goals, are also in contention.