France and England faced off in the 2026 FIFA World Cup third-place playoff on July 18 at Miami Stadium in Miami, Florida, with kickoff at 5 p.m. Eastern Time (21:00 GMT) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Both teams entered after semifinal losses—France fell 2-0 to Spain, while England lost 2-1 to Argentina [2, 6, 3, 7, 5]. The match marked the end of Didier Deschamps’ 14-year tenure as France’s coach. Deschamps called the third-place game "The best thing for France and England would be for this match not to exist" [2, 3, 8, 5, 3].
England coach Thomas Tuchel spoke about the emotional toll of their semifinal defeat, saying, "We have to live with this, so it’s our pain, my pain and the players’ pain – we feel the most pain of all. And it is our scar that we carry now. It is a very painful defeat, and we have to live with this defeat" and acknowledged a gap remains between England and the top teams [6, 7]. Tuchel also defended his tactical choices, saying, "I took a decision, I took several decisions, trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness... But the decisions are made under stress, the decisions are made in-game" [6].
France entered the match as slight favorites in betting and statistical models [9, 10]. The contest also carried individual stakes, as Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi were tied with eight goals apiece competing for the Golden Boot heading into the match [1, 2, 3, 5]. Mbappé, France’s captain, said, "As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility. We wanted to go to the final. We didn't go" [3].
Traditionally, the third-place playoff is seen as a game few teams want to play but can still be competitive and meaningful to participants [1, 11, 3]. France had previously won two of their three third-place playoff games. For England, a third-place finish would mark their best World Cup result since their 1966 victory [11, 3, 8, 5].
The squads were finalized and preparations took place in Miami the day before the match [2, 3, 5]. The 2026 World Cup final is scheduled for July 19 between Argentina and Spain at the New York-New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey [7, 9].
