France vs England Fight for Bronze — and Mbappé Could Overtake Messi in the Golden Boot Race
France and England meet for third place at the 2026 World Cup in Miami. Mbappé can leapfrog Messi in the Golden Boot standings with a goal or two assists.
Not every semifinal defeat has to stay bitter until the very end. France and England still have a trophy to play for — and the 2026 World Cup third-place match carries an extra edge that goes well beyond a bronze medal.
Mbappé takes the pitch with a personal mission: a goal or two assists would be enough to leapfrog Messi in the Golden Boot race. That detail alone is worth the price of admission.
France reached this stage after falling to Spain in the semifinals, with goals from Oyarzabal — on a penalty — and Pedro Porro, according to Marca. England suffered a similar fate: they took the lead through Gordon against Argentina, only to watch Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez turn the game around and bury the English dream.
Historically, the French have more experience in this kind of fixture: they climbed onto the podium in 1958 and 1986, and lost the bronze-medal match in 1982. England are playing for third place for the third time, having fallen short in both 1990 and 2018, according to Marca.
The stage is Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which has already witnessed history at this World Cup — it was there that Cape Verde drew with Uruguay and later fell to Argentina in the round of sixteen.
Rotations are expected on both sides. But with the Golden Boot on the line and national pride at stake, someone is going to want this bronze badly.
Kickoff is this Saturday, 18 July, at 23:00 Brasília time. The question that lingers: will Mbappé seize his last chance to stamp his name at the top of the scoring charts — or will England close out the tournament with at least one reason to smile?