On Saturday night, two disappointed greats will meet in the World Championship bronze final in Miami. For France, a goodbye awaits – for England it is about restoring faith.
France and England meet in the World Cup bronze final in Miami – a match neither team wanted to play. After their heartbreaking semi-final losses, the battle is all about glory, pride and leaving the championship with a glimmer of gold.
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And here’s the big story: France’s legendary manager Didier Deschamps is stepping down after 14 years at the helm. Zinedine Zidane is ready in the wings.
The fact that both national team managers, and their players are demotivated, makes “normal” predictions about who will win the battle for third place.
Deschamps’ last game
Didier Deschamps’ 14 years as France national team manager will end after the bronze medal final. He led Les Bleus to World Cup gold in 2018 and final in 2022 – but failed to take the team to a third straight final after a disappointing loss to Spain.
Critics have argued for years that Deschamps’ conservative approach has held the team back. Ironically, it was the all-out attack that failed in the semi-finals – with four pure attacking players in the starting line-up. Spain exploited the vulnerability mercilessly.
Now Zinédine Zidane is likely to take over. The legacy of Deschamps is great, but the expectations for Zidane are enormous.
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Tuchel must rebuild confidence
England, on the other hand, are not considering sacking Thomas Tuchel. But the German has a lot to do to win back the hearts of an English crowd that is still boiling after the semi-final loss to Argentina.
England deservedly took the lead through Anthony Gordon just after half-time – but then Tuchel sat on the lead. The defensive substitutions backfired, and Argentina scored two late goals. Once again, England was punished for inaction.
This is how the teams line up
France: William Saliba is out with a back injury. Backup goalkeeper Brice Samba is also injured, so Mike Maignan is guarding the cage.
Captain Kylian Mbappé starts – chasing the Golden Boot. But he will have a completely new support system, as Deschamps rotates big to give more players a chance.
England: Declan Rice is rested after illness and back problems. Reece James is also being rested.
Dean Henderson, Kobbie Mainoo and Dan Burn could all get their chance from the start.
Expected teams:
France (4-3-3): Maignan; Gusto, Konaté, Lacroix, T. Hernández; Zaïre-Emery, Kanté, Akliouche; Cherki, Thuram, Mbappé
England (4-3-3): Henderson; Konsa, Burn, Chalobah, O’Reilly; Mainoo, Eze, Rogers; Saka, Rashford, Watkins
How to watch the match
France vs England kicks off at 23:00 Norwegian time on Saturday evening. The match will be broadcast on NRK and streamed on NRK TV.
Key figures before the match
- An England win would give them their highest finish in a World Cup since 1966.
- England have played two World Cup bronze medal finals before – and lost both: 2-1 against Italy in 1990 and 2-0 against Belgium in 2018.
- This is the fourth World Cup meeting between France and England. England won the first two (2-0 in 1966, 3-1 in 1982), but France won 2-1 in the quarter-finals in 2022.
- All World Championship bronze finals have been won without penalties. Only once has the match gone to extra time – France 4-2 Belgium in 1986.
- France is playing its fourth bronze final ever. Only Germany (5) has been there more often. Les Bleus have won two of the first three – 6-3 against Germany in 1958 and 4-2 against Belgium in 1986 – while they lost 2-3 to Poland in 1982.
Sporten.com are reasonably confident in their prediction
A lot depends on which teams are fielded – with big changes expected for both teams.
But France’s squad has greater breadth. Therefore, we think Les Bleus will win a close game.
Sporten.com tracks: France 2-1 England
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