The English vs. French Battle for Bronze, Mbappé Chasing a Record and the Golden Boot in Deschamps’ Farewell Match

One day before the FIFA World Cup 2026 final, the two teams that failed to go any further will face each other at Miami Stadium for the third-place title. France against England on Saturday local time is a match neither side truly wanted, yet it still holds personal storylines big enough to make it worth watching.

Backdrop of Both Teams

France head into this match with fresh wounds, after being humiliated by Spain with two unanswered goals in the semifinals thanks to strikes by Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro—an outcome that was surprising given France entered as one of the favorites. The defeat also dashed Didier Deschamps’ ambition to win the World Cup title in consecutive editions after his success in Russia 2018. Making the game even more emotional is that this is Deschamps’ final match as head coach of the France national team after fourteen years in charge—an era that included the 2018 title, runner-up status in 2022, and now three straight World Cup semifinals. Deschamps’ personal journey this season has also been marked by grief, as he lost his mother during the tournament’s group stage phase.

England, on the other hand, had to swallow a more painful loss: eliminated by Argentina 2-1 in the semifinals after Anthony Gordon’s opening goal was answered by Enzo Fernandez, before Lautaro Martinez became the deciding factor with a header in stoppage time. The defeat crushed England’s dream of ending a six-decade wait for a World Cup trophy since their last triumph in 1966. Thomas Tuchel even openly said that neither the England nor the France players wanted this match, because all of their focus was actually on the final.

Personal Stories That Keep This Match Meaningful

Behind the status of a game often viewed as an afterthought, there are two major personal narratives that keep the contest crucial to follow. Kylian Mbappé now has eight goals in this tournament, bringing his career total in World Cup matches to twenty—only two goals behind the all-time record held by Lionel Messi, who has 21 goals across four World Cup editions. Since France have no more matches after Saturday, the match against England is practically Mbappé’s last chance to close in on that record—at least for now.

Beyond the record, Mbappé is also still locked in a tight race for the tournament’s Golden Boot. He is tied with Messi on eight goals, but is behind in assists, the tie-breaker criterion: Messi leads with four assists compared to Mbappé’s three. Since goals scored in the third-place match are still officially counted toward the Golden Boot chase, this is a major opportunity for Mbappé to move ahead before Messi returns to action in Sunday’s final against Spain. Deschamps has already confirmed that Mbappé will be included, even though he plans to rotate several players in the starting lineup, given that the title is already out of reach.

From England’s side, Harry Kane is down with six goals, needing three more to match Mbappé’s tally—a mission that is realistically nearly impossible, even if it is not completely impossible mathematically. Jude Bellingham also sits level with Kane on six goals. Meanwhile for France, Ousmane Dembele—currently the Ballon d’Or winner—is also recorded with five goals from the wide areas and could add to his numbers.

Head-to-Head History and Third-Place Stakes

The two teams have met 32 times in history, with the most recent meeting occurring in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals in Qatar, when France won 2-1 thanks to Mbappé’s brace—France’s first win over England on the World Cup stage. The history of the third-place playoff has been unkind to England, which has lost both previous occasions, falling to Italy at home 2-1 in 1990 and to Belgium 2-0 in 2018. France, in contrast, is more experienced and successful in this position, winning two of the three third-place matches they have played before.

Beyond prestige and individual player records, both teams are also competing for a financial difference of $2 million in prize money between finishing third and fourth—an amount that may be small, but still relevant for the football associations of both countries.

Match Prediction

With both coaches expected to make major rotations since there are no trophies left to play for, this game could be more open and less tactically cautious than the earlier matches in the tournament. The combination of second-string players who want to prove themselves, plus Mbappé’s personal motivation to chase a record and the Golden Boot, makes a high-scoring scenario more likely than a typical knockout-stage match. France are predicted to edge it narrowly thanks to the individual quality of Mbappé and Dembele, who are still expected to be brought in even with other players rotated. The final score could point toward a more open contest, such as 3-2 or 2-1 in France’s favor, though England has enough ammunition through Kane and Bellingham to keep the outcome hard to predict until the final minutes.

Predictions for the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot

This season’s Golden Boot race is among the tightest seen in recent editions, with Messi and Mbappé both sitting at the top on eight goals as the defining weekend approaches. Messi has an added advantage because Argentina still have one match remaining in the final against Spain, giving him an extra opportunity to score compared to Mbappé, who will have already run out of matches after Saturday’s game. However, Messi’s current assist advantage could flip instantly if Mbappé scores two or more goals in the third-place match, forcing Messi to chase from a trailing position in his own concluding match.

The most likely scenario is that the Golden Boot will be decided in the final seconds of the tournament, depending on who is sharper in the two remaining matches. If Mbappé manages to add a goal against England while Messi fails to find the net against Spain in the final, the Golden Boot could fall to Mbappé and simultaneously complete a personal record closer to the all-time scoring mark. Conversely, if Messi performs impressively in the final and leads Argentina to defend the World Cup title, the combination of winning the trophy and claiming the Golden Boot would further solidify Messi’s status as one of the greatest players in the history of this tournament. Names like Kane, Bellingham, and Dembele still hold mathematical chances to close in, but realistically this edition’s Golden Boot race will likely be settled via an indirect head-to-head duel between the two biggest stars of this generation.

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