Neither of them wanted the flight to Miami. France and England came to this World Cup believing they would be busy on Sunday, and instead they meet on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium to settle third place from fourth. There is a bronze medal on the table, which does not quite disguise that this is the one fixture nobody circles in advance. The intrigue on Saturday is a selection one before it is a sporting one. Kick-off is 10pm BST, and since you can stream every World Cup game free in the UK, there is a reason to watch even a match this reluctant as World Cup 2026’s closing weekend builds towards Sunday’s final.
How France and England reached the bronze final
Spain took France apart in the semi-final without appearing to break sweat, winning 2–0 in Dallas. Mikel Oyarzabal converted an early penalty and Pedro Porro added the second just after the hour, and by that point France had managed two shots, neither of them on target. Mbappé spent the night shackled and never got free.
England’s defeat lingers in a different way. They led Argentina in Atlanta with ten minutes left, Anthony Gordon having put them ahead, before Tuchel’s defensive substitutions handed the initiative back and Argentina won 2–1 without needing extra time. We went through how the semi-final slipped away from England in full, and the substitutions remain the hardest part to forgive. Their road there had been the harder one, a comeback needed to see off DR Congo before Mexico dragged them into a five-goal round-of-16 tie. The quarter-final against Norway, at this same Miami stadium, went to extra time.
Tuchel’s rotation call and England team news
This is where the match actually lives. Tuchel has to weigh a squad running on fumes against a finish that would mean something, because third place would be England’s best World Cup since 1966, one better than the fourth they managed in 2018. That is not nothing to a manager still building credit with the public.
Kane has barely stopped all tournament and could be handed a rest, with Ollie Watkins leading the line in his place. Bellingham, who has run himself into the ground trying to drag England forward, is another candidate to sit, and Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka may also miss out. The numbers behind Bellingham’s tournament make the case for the rest on their own, given how much of England’s attacking load he has carried. What Tuchel will not want is to send out a side so changed that it surrenders a medal by accident, so expect freshening rather than upheaval, with Elliot Anderson and Kobbie Mainoo likely to anchor whatever midfield he picks.
Deschamps, Mbappé and France’s changes
France arrive with their own questions and one very large exception to them. Deschamps is managing his last tournament in charge, and a squad that won the World Cup in 2018 and reached the final in 2022 has slipped to a semi-final in 2026, a trajectory nobody in the French federation will enjoy reading back. A bronze medal would at least stop the slide reaching fourth.
Deschamps is expected to rotate and rest legs after a bruising exit. The exception is Mbappé, who has a reason to play that has nothing to do with the team result. Around him France can call on Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and a forward line deep enough that their second string would walk into most sides at this tournament.
The Golden Boot subplot in Miami
That reason is the individual prize. Mbappé sits on eight goals, level at the top of the Golden Boot race and ahead of Messi only on assists. Messi plays in Sunday’s final and has another game to overtake him. Mbappé does not. Saturday is his last chance to add to the tally, which is why nobody expects him to sit it out however freely Deschamps rotates elsewhere.
Kane is on six, two behind, and the honest reading is that the boot is beyond him barring something absurd. He did open the tournament with a double against Croatia and passed Gary Lineker to become England’s all-time leading World Cup scorer along the way, so his own headline is already written. A rest looks the likelier call than a chase.
Predicted lineups and a prediction
Predict either team with confidence at your peril, because rotation is the entire variable here. With that caveat, England could start Pickford behind Konsa, Guéhi, Stones and Nico O’Reilly, Anderson and Mainoo in front of them, and Noni Madueke, Bellingham and Gordon supporting Kane, though Tuchel may yet protect Kane, Bellingham or Saka.
France look likely to send out Maignan, a back four of Koundé, Upamecano, Lacroix and Théo Hernández, Manu Koné and Adrien Rabiot screening, and Dembélé, Rayan Cherki and Doué behind Mbappé.
Tired teams and a low-stakes night usually make for a loose, open game, and France carry the one man on the pitch treating it like a cup final. France 2–1, with Mbappé involved in both.
When a squad flies home with a bronze medal it never wanted, from a game it barely agreed to play, does the thing weigh anything at all by the time the plane lands?
