Live: Golden boot and third place up for grabs as France faces England

France and England are playing for pride and third place in the World Cup, as Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane make final bids for the golden boot.

Follow all the action in our live blog.

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Sun 19 Jul 2026 at 6:28am

Sun 19 Jul 2026 at 6:28am

How hyped are France and England for this game?

It's still the World Cup, some of the best players in the world all in the same spot, millions of eyeballs on you... surely there is some excitement from the respective teams for this one? Right, Ibrahima Konate?

"None of us wanted to play in this game for third place, but we don't have a choice to play."

Oh. Well, what about you, England manager Thomas Tuchel?

"Nobody wants to be, tomorrow, in this game."

Bah. Surely Didier Deschamps, in what will be his final game as France boss, can muster some enthusiasm?

"We do have a match for the third place play-off, and there's a duty. We have duties. I have duties, my staff has duties and so do the players."

I'll take it.

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Sun 19 Jul 2026 at 6:22am

Sun 19 Jul 2026 at 6:22am

A fair few changes for France

By Dean Bilton

It's not the sort of wholesale turnover of England, but some decent rotation here from the French.

Kylian Mbappe starts, and he will be absolutely starving for the goals today as he hunts the golden boot and the overall record ahead of Lionel Messi's last crack at it tomorrow. Michael Olise also starts, because somebody has to feed the beast.

But there is no Ousmane Dembele, replaced by Rayan Cherki, and Desire Doue has come back in for Bradley Barcola (I think France has looked better with Doue on the left ahead of Barcola all tournament, but what do I know?).

Warren Zaire-Emery starts in midfield which is fun, and Lucas Digne is bombed out after his horror show against Spain, replaced by Theo Hernandez at left back.

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Sun 19 Jul 2026 at 6:17am

Sun 19 Jul 2026 at 6:17am

Mass changes for England's starting XI

By Dean Bilton

Only four players remain from the defeat to Argentina - Declan Rice, Marc Guehi, Djed Spence and Morgan Rogers.

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham both sit it out, despite being part of that golden boot race. Jordan Pickford also misses out, which according to the many genius experts on social media and in English punditry will solve all of England's woes at a stroke.

There are chances for Ivan Toney up front, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka on the wings and Eberechi Eze in the 10. Dean Henderson will play in goal.

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Sun 19 Jul 2026 at 6:10am

Sun 19 Jul 2026 at 6:10am

Welcome to the 'Bronze Final' - France vs England

By Dean Bilton

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.