The World Cup final is set, but an additional game remains on the schedule.
England’s semifinal collapse against Argentina means the defending world champions will take on Spain in the final at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday.
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Spain dominated France in the other semi to set up one of the most highly-anticipated finals in recent memory.
It will be the first-ever World Cup final between the reigning European champions and Copa America winners.
Before the final kicks off, though, there is the small matter of the third-place playoff match that needs resolving.
England and France will meet in the ‘bronze medal’ match at the Miami Stadium on Saturday, despite many deeming it to be a completely pointless affair.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy took to X to share his dismay that the third-place playoff match is even a thing.
“Wait, there is a 3rd place World Cup game? What kind of loser b******* is that? That has to be the most demoralizing game of all time,” the Barstool Sports owner tweeted.
The third-place game was introduced in 1934, the second edition of the World Cup, and England have previous experience in the fixture.
Following their loss to Croatia in the 2018 semi-final, England lost 2-0 to Belgium in the third-place playoff.
Despite the newly-expanded World Cup seeing over 100 games scheduled in for this summer’s tournament, the third place playoff has remained.
It’s something which newly converted US soccer fans can’t get their head around.
“I’d fly home or to my holidays if I were a footballer. The 3rd place playoff is the most pointless fixture in soccer” one commented.
“To be honest there should not be a third-place World Cup game. Very painful and somewhat pointless for those players and those nations,” Miami Dolphins insider Joe Schad wrote on X.
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“The 3rd place playoff game should be scrapped. Imagine entertaining and only getting a bronze medal,” a third added.
“I wonder why? Does any one of the final four actually care who finishes third,” a fourth said.
“Nah this third place game is actually bs. What if they did this in the NFL or NBA?” a fifth commented.
Germany, who have won the World Cup four times, have collected the most bronze medals with four.
Why is there a third-place playoff game in the World Cup?
If you’re wondering why the game exists in the first place, the reason is pretty simple.
A third-place play-off helps FIFA fill the scheduling gap between the semifinals and the final, bringing in more revenue for them and the host city.
It is also essential for FIFA’s global rankings, with the game carrying more weight than any international friendly.
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For the players involved, the chance to secure a bronze medal and take home a portion of the $30 million third-place prize pool provides a minor silver lining.
However, stats from the game will still count towards the race for the Golden Boot.
“3rd place game counting for golden boot is a joke lmao,” said one fan.
Kylian Mbappe (8 goals), Jude Bellingham (6) and Harry Kane (6) are all in the race, currently led by Lionel Messi (8 goals).
However, it remains to be seen if Thomas Tuchel and Didier Deschamps will play their full strength teams in the third-place playoff, or rest their stars and give minutes to some of the players who have barely featured in the tournament.
“None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match,” Tuchel told reporters following the defeat to Argentina.
“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.”
Ultimately, for England and France, Saturday’s match represents a failure to reach their ultimate goal.
Both teams had aspirations of winning the whole tournament before landing in North America, but will now have to watch Spain and Argentina duke it out while they take part in a game nobody wants to see.
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