While most will believe the World Cup final is the only game left to be played at the summer tournament, there is still the third-place play-off to come. It has now been rebranded as the Bronze Final , but it's hard to imagine that helping raise excitement for the match.
Both England and France will be devastated to have lost their respective semi-finals, with Argentina and Spain advancing in their stead. But players from Thomas Tuchel and Didier Deschamps' squads have had to stay on, training this week as they hang around to play this final match to see who officially will finish third at the 2026 World Cup.
The game will take place on Saturday, July 18, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Speaking to the press ahead of the fixture, France defender Ibrahima Konate has revealed how his teammates really feel about the match.
An experienced England international has had his say on the treatment of one England player in particular.
Ibrahima Konate: 'No One Wants To Play in Third-Place Play-Off'
Speaking to the press ahead of the game against England , Konate did not pull any punches as he bluntly explained:
"Not one of us want to play this game for third place, but we don't have the choice."
He was also quoted as saying : “Indeed, it was not the objective. How do we mobilise and motivate ourselves? Well, I believe that as French players for this team, many players would have loved to compete and play this game.
“I’m not saying it is easy. Far from it. I’ve read in the press that Tuchel said that no one wants to play this game. Well, it’s true that given the aim and objective we had.
“We wanted to play the final, but we are still representing France and it is the dream of many people to wear the shirt, the jersey, and sing the Marseillaise therefore we need to respect the jersey we’re wearing.”
Thomas Tuchel Also Not Keen on England vs France Meeting
Konate made reference to England manager Thomas Tuchel, who was just as damning about the third-place play-off . Speaking to the press ahead of the game, the German said:
"None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match. We demand the most of ourselves. That's just the nature of being competitive. 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."
He did add, however, "We have one less day of recovery than France, but we will do it with professionalism."
That said, there is one player who will be motivated to do well in the game. Indeed, Kylian Mbappe is tied level with Lionel Messi on eight goals as he aims to win the Golden Boot . Not only that, but the Frenchman is also just one strike (20) behind the Argentine (21) as the all-time top goalscorer in World Cup history.
Speaking ahead of the game against England, Mbappe claimed his main motivation was to give manager Deschamps a good send-off in his final game in charge of France. He explained:
"Nothing changed about what Didier means to us as a French people. As a manager, as a player, he wrote an amazing story.
"There's one game left for him, so we're going to try to play the best game for him because he deserves it, and also the fans deserve to have a win and finish third in this World Cup."
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