France vs England Preview: Team News & Prediction | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Third Place Play-Off
France have finished as winners in 2018 and runners-up in 2022. They are looking to complete the hat-trick with a bronze medal against an England side that have only ever bettered fourth place on one occasion - when they won the tournament in 1966.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – BBC / USA – FOX Sports
How to watch online: UK – BBC iPlayer & the BBC Sport website & app / USA – FOX One
France preview: Toothless at the wrong time
France went into FIFA World Cup 2026 as pre-tournament favourites and Les Bleus were superb throughout. They scored 16 goals and conceded just two as they romped their way to the semi-finals before massively underwhelming and going out with a bit of a whimper in Dallas.
For a third successive summer, France lost a semi-final to Spain, having done so at UEFA EURO 2024 and then in the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League. A Mikel Oyarzabal penalty and a Pedro Porro goal gave the Spanish their 2-0 win in Texas as France failed to land a punch on the impressive Spaniards.
England preview: Blown it
Thomas Tuchel bemoaned the conservatism of Gareth Southgate in previous England tournaments before taking it one step further with some negative tactical choices against Argentina in the Three Lions’ semi-final.
Having stumbled their way into the final four, England matched and perhaps bettered the Argentinians for the first hour, taking a 56th minute lead via Anthony Gordon. England then sat back in such an extreme way that it was pretty much unprecedented, allowing for Lionel Messi to provide assists for Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez to send the South Americans through and knock England into the third place play-off for the third time in their history.
France team news: Probable rotation
Further team news will appear here closer to the match after pre-match press conferences…
Didier Deschamps heads into his final game in charge of France. The FIFA World Cup 2018 winner has been largely successful and he will want to finish his reign with a flourish in Miami.
That doesn’t mean he will not rotate, though. Rayan Cherki has been frustrated by a lack of game-time and may get his first start of the tournament ahead of Michael Olise, with N’Golo Kante and Ibrahima Konate potentially coming in, too.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Kounde, Konate, Lacroix, L. Hernandez; Kante, Rabiot; Dembele, Cherki, Doue; Mbappe
Unavailable:
Questionable: Saliba (Injured), Thuram (Fitness)
England team news: Golden Boot race could impact selection
Further team news will appear here closer to the match after pre-match press conferences…
Thomas Tuchel has some fresh players for this one in attack because he left Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke on the bench, while Ollie Watkins was barely used throughout the tournament.
Stars such as Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane will be expected to keep their spot but there could be heavy rotation aside from that. It would be a surprise to see Declan Rice fight through the pain barrier, but Jarell Quansah has returned from suspension.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): D. Henderson; Spence, Konsa, Burn, O’Reilly; James, Mainoo; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane
Unavailable: J. Henderson (Injured)
Questionable:
France’s top FIFA World Cup Fantasy assets
Ousmane Dembele ($10.0m) – Midfielder
Rayan Cherki ($8.0m) – Midfielder
Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m) – Forward
Matchday 8 captain pick: Kylian Mbappe
Set-piece duty
Penalties: Kylian Mbappe
Free kicks: Kylian Mbappe
Corners: Rayan Cherki
England’s top FIFA World Cup Fantasy assets
Jude Bellingham ($8.3m) – Midfielder
Anthony Gordon ($7.0m) – Midfielder
Harry Kane ($10.5m) – Forward
Matchday 8 captain pick: Harry Kane
Set-piece duty
Penalties: Harry Kane
Free kicks: Reece James
Corners: Bukayo Saka
Key stats
- England have won two of the three World Cup encounters between the teams, 2-0 in the 1966 group stage and 3-1 in the 1982 group stage. However, France won their most recent which was the 2-1 victory in the quarter-finals at Qatar 2022 in which Aurélien Tchouaméni opened the scoring for France, and Harry Kane both scored and missed a penalty for England.
- England also lead their overall head-to-head record in 32 matches with 17 wins to France’s ten and five draws. However, the French have lost only one of the last nine meetings (W6 D2).
- England have twice participated in the play-off for third place, losing both times: 2-1 vs Italy in 1990 and 2-0 vs Belgium in 2018. If they triumph it will be their best World Cup finish since they won the competition in 1966.
- England’s total of five matches won at the 2026 World Cup is their joint-most in a single edition, equalling their total in 1966.
- England have scored 14 goals at the 2026 World Cup, one more than their previous best of 13 at Qatar 2022.
- Jordan Pickford could become the first England player to make 20 World Cup appearances, and he could also become only the fourth goalkeeper in the history of the competition to reach the landmark.
Goalkeepers with the most appearances in FIFA World Cup history:- 23 – Manuel Neuer (GER)
- 21 – Thibaut Courtois (BEL)
- 20 – Hugo Lloris (FRA)
- 19 – Fernando Muslera (URU) and Jordan Pickford (ENG)
- France are aiming for their third successive top-three finish at the World Cup, having won the competition in 2018 and finished as runners-up in 2022. Overall, they have finished in the top three on six occasions.
- France have participated in the play-off for third place three times, winning 6-3 against Germany FR in 1958, losing 3-2 to Poland in 1982, and winning 4-2 after extra time over Belgium in 1986.
- France have not lost successive World Cup matches since the 2010 group stage against Mexico (0-2) and South Africa (1-2).
- Despite the defeat against Spain, France have won 17 of their last 21 FIFA World Cup matches (D2 L2).
- The loss against Spain was only France’s second defeat in their last 18 international matches (W15 D1).
- France have prevailed in 11 of their last 12 World Cup knockout-phase encounters in which they were level at half-time.
- Against Spain, Kylian Mbappé became France's all-time leading appearance-maker in FIFA World Cup history with 21 appearances. In this match, Ousmane Dembélé could move into joint-third alongside Antoine Griezmann by making his 19th appearance in the competition.
- A European nation has finished third at each of the last 11 FIFA World Cup tournaments. The last non-European team to finish third was Brazil in 1978.
- There has never been a penalty shoot-out in the play-off for third place in an edition of the FIFA World Cup.
- There has been a total of 297 goals scored at the 2026 World Cup - three short of becoming the first edition to hit the 300 mark.
Click here for EVEN MORE stats & facts about this fixture!
France vs England prediction
France have been better throughout this tournament than England. They were nullified by a Spain team that have done that before and, with a FIFA World Cup under their belt in the last ten years, will find it easier to move on from the semis than the English likely will.
England have played really well on just one occasion during the Thomas Tuchel reign, a 5-0 defeat of Serbia in qualification back in the autumn. Pretty much every other game has had its issues.
England will want to go home and, while the same will be said for France, it is a fond farewell to Deschamps for Les Bleus - as well as an opportunity for Kylian Mbappe to clinch the Golden Boot with a couple here, still level with Lionel Messi but behind him on the assists tally.
France vs England betting tip: France to win with -1 handicap
