Although neither France nor England will contest the World Cup final, their meeting in the third-place play-off could still significantly influence one of the tournament’s biggest individual honours.
England’s hopes of reaching the final ended with a defeat to Argentina, while Spain knocked France out in the other semi-final. The two sides will now face each other on Saturday, with the match taking place early on Sunday in Bangladesh.
England manager Thomas Tuchel admitted the disappointment within his squad after their semi-final exit.
None of these players, including the French players, want to play in this match. They want to play in the final. We gave everything to be in the final,” he said.
Third-place matches often attract less attention than the final itself, as players and supporters struggle to move on from semi-final defeats.
In 2026, however, there is added importance, as performances in the fixture will count towards the race for the World Cup Golden Boot.
Goals scored in the play-off are included in the official tournament totals, leaving several leading scorers with one final opportunity to improve their numbers before Sunday’s final.
Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe currently share the lead with eight goals each. Messi remains ahead under FIFA’s tie-breaking rules because he has provided one more assist than the France forward.
Norway striker Erling Haaland is next with seven goals, but his World Cup campaign ended in the quarter-finals, meaning he can no longer challenge for the award.
England captain Harry Kane and midfielder Jude Bellingham have both scored six times, while France winger Ousmane Dembele and Spain forward Mikel Oyarzabal have five goals each.
As a result, the France-England encounter is more than a contest for third place. It also represents the last opportunity for several players to strengthen their Golden Boot challenge before the tournament concludes.
History shows that the third-place play-off has often shaped the outcome of the top scorer award.
Seven previous Golden Boot winners found the net in the match. Germany’s Thomas Muller in 2010, Croatia’s Davor Suker in 1998, Italy’s Salvatore Schillaci in 1990 and Brazil’s Leonidas in 1938 all secured the tournament’s leading scorer honour with goals in the play-off.
Others, including Poland’s Grzegorz Lato in 1974, Portugal’s Eusébio in 1966 and France’s Just Fontaine in 1958, also scored in the fixture, although they would have finished as top scorer regardless.
FIFA separates players who are level on goals using a clear set of tiebreakers. The first is the number of assists, followed by the fewest minutes played if players remain level.
Those rules leave Mbappe, Kane, Bellingham and Dembele with a realistic chance of overtaking or matching Messi before the final. Their performances in the third-place play-off could therefore determine the target Messi must reach when he takes to the pitch for the World Cup final.
With both teams eager to finish their campaigns on a positive note, the battle in Miami may yet have a decisive impact on one of football’s most prestigious individual prizes.
