World Cup 2026: Third-place play-off – an unwanted tie or a match with a ‘golden layer’?

It’s a match that has been played at every Fifa World Cup for the past 72 years.

The third-place play-off – known by Fifa as the Bronze Final – and on Saturday it is the turn of England and France.

France head coach Didier Deschamps summed up the mood in his camp before the game in Miami when he said: “The best for France and England would be for this match not to exist.”

England manager Thomas Tuchel had a similar view after the defeat by Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday night, saying: “None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match.”

But addressing the media on Friday, Tuchel was more positive about the chance to win bronze. “If we win the game tomorrow, we have the best results of a World Cup in 60 years. It’s a perspective to it,” he said.

The play-off does give the opportunity for players who have struggled for minutes or are yet to feature at the tournament to have their moment on the pitch. And then there are the fans who have paid for tickets and travel, expecting the teams to put on a show.

England may use the game as an opportunity to introduce James Trafford to World Cup football or give Kobbie Mainoo his first World Cup minutes in an England shirt.

Former France and Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has played 14 minutes for France, in the third group game against a heavily-rotated Norway side – though he is not relishing the prospect of adding to those minutes in Miami.

“Not one of us want to play this game for third place,” he said. “But we don’t have the choice.”