France, England face off in third-place match

Both teams head to Florida still raw from semi-final defeats that have left both footballing nations licking wounds, which, in the eyes of many, were largely self-inflicted.

France, the tournament's outstanding team en route to the last four, were anonymous in the face of a tactical masterclass by Spain on Tuesday and slumped to a 2-0 defeat.

England added another chapter to their long history of World Cup heartache on Wednesday when they surrendered the initiative and a lead to lose 2-1 to Argentina in Atlanta.

France and England must now attempt to summon the remnants of their competitive will and physical reserves for a game that is widely disliked throughout football.

"None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match," England manager Thomas Tuchel said after his team's agonising semi-final defeat.

"They want to play the final. We gave everything to achieve that. Everyone plays to win the World Cup, but that's how it is."

"We have one less day of recovery than France, but we will do it with professionalism."

France coach Didier Deschamps isn't the least bit thrilled about competing for the consolation prize.

"The best thing for France and England would be for this match not to exist," Deschamps said.

The contest will be the final one as Les Bleus coach for the 57-year-old Deschamps, whose 14-year tenure includes guiding the nation to the 2018 World Cup crown.

"I know that it's the last match and I don't want anybody to cry, and I don't think anybody here will cry," Deschamps said. "I had the privilege to go through amazing moments and to go also through some more difficult moments, so the end is coming near but life goes on."

France star Kylian Mbappe is tied with Argentina's Lionel Messi with eight goals in the Golden Boot competition. Mbappe is the defending winner after also having eight goals in 2022.

But first, Mbappe is coping with the fact that his side didn't reach the final.

"As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility," Mbappe said of falling against Spain. "I have no problem with that. We wanted to go to the final. We didn't go."

Mbappe has 20 career World Cup goals, one behind Messi's record.

Three other players in this match are second-hand contenders for the Golden Boot: England's Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane have scored six goals and France's Ousmane Dembele is a longshot at five.

Predicted XIs France: Brice Samba; Malo Gusto, Ibrahima Konaté, Maxence Lacroix, Theo Hernández, N'Golo Kanté, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki, Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé.

England: Jordan Pickford, Djed Spence, John Stones, Marc Guéhi, Nico O'Reilly, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane.

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