France forward Kylian Mbappe is the joint-leading scorer at the 2026 World Cup. Photo: AFP <\/p>\n
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France and England will bid a gloomy farewell to the World Cup on Saturday when they face each other in the dreaded third-place play-off in Miami.<\/p>\n
Both teams head to Florida still raw from semi-final defeats that have left both footballing nations licking wounds, which, in the eyes of many, were largely self-inflicted.<\/p>\n
France, the tournament’s outstanding team\u00a0en\u00a0route to the last four, were anonymous in the face of a tactical masterclass by Spain on Tuesday and slumped to a 2-0 defeat.<\/p>\n
England added another chapter to their long history of World Cup heartache on Wednesday when they surrendered the initiative and a lead to lose 2-1 to Argentina in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
France and England must now attempt to summon the remnants of their competitive will and physical reserves for a game that is widely disliked throughout football.<\/p>\n
“None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match,” England manager Thomas\u00a0Tuchel\u00a0said after his team’s\u00a0agonising\u00a0semi-final defeat.<\/p>\n
“They want to play the final. We gave everything to achieve that. Everyone plays to win the World Cup, but that’s how it is.<\/p>\n
“We have one less day of recovery than France, but we will do it with professionalism.”<\/p>\n
Sad footnote for\u00a0Deschamps<\/strong><\/p>\n The match will mark a sad footnote to Didier\u00a0Deschamps’ long reign as France coach.<\/p>\n Deschamps, who, like\u00a0Tuchel, has faced stinging criticism for the tactical decisions that marked his team’s semi-final defeat, is stepping down as manager after the tournament.<\/p>\n The 57-year-old’s departure ends a successful 14-year spell in charge that included a World Cup triumph in 2018, defeat in the final in Qatar in 2022 and a run to the last four in the current tournament.<\/p>\n “There’s a third-place finish to play for, so we’ll do everything we can to get it,”\u00a0Deschamps\u00a0said after France’s semi-final loss.<\/p>\n “We’re not where we wanted or expected to be. The disappointment matches our ambitions, but we have to accept it. We have no other choice.”<\/p>\n Yet while it will be scant consolation, the game might well prove pivotal for the World Cup’s Golden Boot race.<\/p>\n France captain\u00a0Kylian\u00a0Mbappe\u00a0is joint top scorer for the tournament alongside Argentina skipper Lionel Messi on eight goals, and will be looking to add to his tally against an unsettled English\u00a0defence.<\/p>\n England’s Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham — who are on six goals apiece — could also enter the running with a big performance at the Hard Rock Stadium.<\/p>\n Last dance for Kane?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n For England’s all-time record\u00a0goalscorer\u00a0Kane, the game may also mark the final World Cup appearance of his career.<\/p>\n The Bayern Munich forward turns 33 this month and it is questionable whether he will be around for the 2030 finals.<\/p>\n Kane declined to speculate on his international future following Wednesday’s defeat.<\/p>\n “It’s too early to talk about that,” Kane told reporters.<\/p>\n “I’m taking it year by year and the national team is my pride and joy. It’s what I love to do more than anything…. I never want to put a limit on these things.”<\/p>\n The match is also an opportunity for\u00a0Mbappe\u00a0to move into top spot in the all-time World Cup scoring charts. The Real Madrid striker is currently on 20 goals, one behind Messi on 21.<\/p>\n Much may depend on the strength of the lineups fielded by both teams.<\/p>\n Tuchel\u00a0is expected to rotate his starting side heavily after what has been a\u00a0gruelling\u00a0campaign.<\/p>\n An energy-sapping last-16 trip to the thin air of Mexico City and the\u00a0Estadio\u00a0Azteca was followed by a brutally hot quarter-final win over Norway in Miami before the shattering defeat to Argentina.<\/p>\n Tuchel\u00a0is likely to give game time to players who have been on the fringes throughout the campaign, most likely meaning a World Cup debut for Manchester United’s\u00a0Kobbie\u00a0Mainoo\u00a0and possibly a start for Kane’s understudy as striker, Ollie Watkins.<\/p>\n Deschamps\u00a0may be tempted to field veteran midfielder\u00a0N’GoloKante, one of the heroes of Les Bleus’ 2018 World Cup win, who has not seen a minute of action in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" France forward Kylian Mbappe is the joint-leading scorer at the 2026 World Cup. Photo: AFP MIAMI: France and England will bid a gloomy farewell to the World Cup on Saturday when they face each other in the dreaded third-place play-off in Miami. Both teams head to Florida still raw from semi-final defeats that have left […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/img-93621784299964-0\/img-93621784299964-0-640x480.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t