Good morning, and welcome back to ABC Sport’s live blog coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. We have reached the penultimate game of the tournament, an illustrious occasion that we’ve all had circled on our fixture lists for months.
That’s right, it’s the third-place playoff.
France and England lost their semifinals last week, but instead of being allowed to fly home and commence a fortnight on their yachts or in a nightclub or whatever it is these boys do in their free time, they have to play one more game. A game for third, just to really rub the noses into the semifinal favour.
But there is pride to play for, and for Kylian Mbappe at least the chance to win the golden boot and perhaps go past Lionel Messi as the World Cup’s greatest ever scorer. For now.
It should be fun, anyway. France and England pretty much guarantees that. So let’s go.
