England supporters who dared to dream of the
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So insignificant is the bronze medal that the Saturday night spotlight at Miami Stadium will be on the Golden Boot race. Lionel Messi will lead Argentina in tomorrow’s final and has eight goals to his name.
France captain Kylian Mbappe has eight too, and is a goal behind in the all-time standings. England’s Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham are two short of their World Cup 2026 tally and the post-match narrative will focus in part on the part played or not by these three players.
This is the first time since 2014 France have not made it to the final of the World Cup. They haven’t had the third-place play-off inflicted upon them since 1986, when they beat Belgium on penalties in Puebla, Mexico.
England have played in the third-place play-off twice in the last three World Cups. Eight years ago, they were beaten 2-0 by Belgium in St Petersburg and still bore the scars of their semi-final defeat days earlier.
They also reached the semi-finals in Italy in 1990. Bobby Robson’s team lost the play-off on that occasion too. Toto Schillaci scored the winning goal for Italy and bagged himself the Golden Boot in the process.
The last time this fixture was played, Les Bleus knocked England out of the World Cup in Qatar. Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud scored their goals four years ago. Harry Kane scored one penalty for England and missed the next.
FourFourTwo’s prediction
France 2-0 England
FourFourTwo predicts a lack of appetite on the part of three wounded lions.
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