England - France World Cup 2026 third place match: team uniforms, statistics, forecasts

On the night of July 19, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (Florida, USA), the national teams of England and France will meet in the match for the third place of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The meeting will begin at 00:00 Moscow time (at 17:00 local time on July 18). Jesus Valenzuela from Venezuela was appointed the main referee of the match. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

The teams' path to the third place match

The French national team lost to Spain in the semifinals with a score of 0:2. Before that, the Tricolours had confidently passed the playoff stage: they defeated Sweden (3:0) in the 1/16 finals, defeated Paraguay (1:0) in the 1/8 finals and beat Morocco (2:0) in the quarterfinals. Before the meeting with Spain, Didier Deschamps' team was considered one of the main favorites of the tournament.

England lost 1-2 to Argentina in the semifinals in a dramatic match. The British scored the first goal — winger Anthony Gordon scored in the 55th minute, but then conceded two goals: midfielder Enzo Fernandez equalized in the 85th minute, and forward Lautaro Martinez brought victory to the Argentines in the 90th minute. On their way to the semifinals, the Three Lions defeated DR Congo (2:1) in the 1/16 finals, Mexico (3:2) in the 1/8 finals and Norway (2:1) in the quarterfinals.

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The fight for the "Golden Boot" of the World Cup

One of the main intrigues of the match is the goalscoring race. Strikers Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi (Argentina) are the top scorers of the tournament with eight goals each. However, Messi has more assists — four against Mbappe's three. Goals in the match for third place are taken into account when determining the winner of the Golden Boot, so Mbappe can still beat the Argentine striker. At the same time, Messi will get a chance to respond in the final against Spain.

The English players also retain mathematical chances: striker Harry Kane and midfielder Jude Bellingham scored six goals each and are two goals behind the leaders. In order to beat Mbappe and Messi, the British will need a hat-trick, taking into account the fact that the Argentine and the Frenchman will not score goals.

History of confrontations

The rivals have met three times at the World Championships: in 1966, England won 2-0 on the way to their only world title, in 1982, the British won again (3:1), and at the last major tournament, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the French beat England in the quarterfinals (2:1).

England has already participated in the third place matches at the World Championships twice and lost both times to Italy in 1990 (1:2) and Belgium in 2018 (0:2). A victory over France will make this the best tournament for the British since 1966.

France is playing in the bronze medal match for the fourth time: a victory over Germany in 1958, a defeat by Poland in 1982, and a victory over Belgium in 1986. If they win, the French will be among the top three winners of the World Championship for the third time in a row (2018 — gold, 2022 — silver, 2026 — bronze).

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Favorites and predictions

France is the clear favorite of the match. So, analysts prefer "tricolor". France is given a coefficient of 2.01 to win (52.6% probability). England's success is estimated at 3.78 (probability 27.9%). 3.83 is offered for a draw. The coach of the Deschamps team noted that France is fully focused on the game and will do everything to win the bronze medals. England's coach Thomas Tuchel, on the other hand, was heavily criticized after the defeat by Argentina. Former England striker Gary Lineker jokingly called the specialist a German spy and criticized him for defensive football. Tuchel himself said that the team was aiming for the best results and "no one wants" to play a match for third place — neither the British nor the French.