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For Americans, the World Cup has a lot of strange things. We are not used to matches that end in ties. We don’t really recognize the beauty of teams passing the ball back and forth, trying to see where it makes sense to attack the defense. But most importantly, we’re not used to major tournaments with a third place match, but we get it here as France take on England.
France disappointed me for various reasons. Even if I hadn’t had a ticket to win the World Cup with them, I probably would have been disappointed when they played Spain. They looked like little children playing against adults. The lack of urgency, skill disparity and overall performance seemed brutal compared to what we’ve seen from France in every other World Cup match.
Frenchman Kylian Mbappe scored the go-ahead and ultimately the winning goal against Paraguay from a penalty. (James Lang-Imagn Images)
The only thing France really has to play for now is pride. It was disappointing to see them not bother against Spain, but they were still very strong against almost every other team in the league. Now the other thing they can go for is to score another Kylian Mbappe goal. He has eight, which is tied with Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot, but he has fewer assists, so if he doesn’t score he will lose.
HOW TO WATCH ENGLAND VS FRANCE: LIVE STREAM THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP THIRD PLACE MATCH
England missed everything. This is really the dominant thought of almost all analysts and everyone. England fans are furious with their manager for ‘parking the bus’ in the second half of the match. I can’t say I blame them. England looked like they were just trying to run out the clock instead of being aggressive. We know Argentina are a good team, but England weren’t really playing well; they just seemed to charge the box and hope their opponent wouldn’t score.
England’s Harry Kane celebrates after scoring from a penalty during a World Cup round of 16 match against Mexico in Mexico City, Sunday July 5, 2026. (Eduardo Verdugo/AP)
England can still make this World Cup a success with a victory. Of course, it’s not the same as winning the tournament, but finishing third seems like a surprisingly successful run for them. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham proved to be one of the best duos in the entire tournament. The problem remains that it simply hasn’t been enough. I expect them to be more aggressive after the disaster of the last game.
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Does this mean they will find the back of the net more than once? I kind of doubt it, but I expect both teams to attack regularly. The first line in this match was 2.5 with juice above; it has now increased to 3.5, giving a good mid-range opportunity if you were betting the most originally.
(Left) Harry Kane of England leaves the field at the end of the first half during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Georgia, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Right) Kylian Mbappe (10) of France celebrates the opening goal during the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between France and Morocco in Foxborough, Mass. near Boston, Thursday July 9, 2026. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP Newsroom; Steven Senne/AP Newsroom)
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France still remains, in my eyes, the best team in the tournament – apart from Spain, I suppose. I think they’ll probably win this game in 90 minutes at -110, but I really don’t know how motivated either team will be in a third place game. I think Mbappé will try to score as many goals as possible for the Golden Boot. Him at +300 is worth a flyer for two goals. I’ll also take less than 3.5 as I just don’t see this game scoring four goals.
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For more news and sports betting, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
