The match nobody needs

The match for third place at the World Cup has always held the status of the strangest game of the tournament. For teams that just days earlier dreamed of lifting the Golden Globe, this encounter often feels like a punishment—an obligation they must fulfill with a broken heart.

Exactly that was visible in the duel between England and France, which ended in an incredible and completely chaotic 6-4 victory for England. Although ten goals on paper sounds like a spectacle to remember, the essential truth is completely different. This was a classic confirmation that the third-place match has no competitive significance and that defense is barely played at all.

A Ten-Goal Epic in Miami as England Edge Out France in World Cup Thriller

In modern football, where teams in the semifinals and finals tactically analyze to exhaustion and park the bus to preserve a result, the third-place match offers a completely opposite picture.

The game in Miami looked more like a casual five-a-side match or a training session than an official World Cup fixture. England led 4-0 at halftime, as a French defense that had looked disciplined until the semifinals virtually ceased to exist in the first 45 minutes.

Players stood far from their opponents, duels were fought with half-effort, and tactical discipline was nowhere to be found. When there is no pressure and motivation is at a minimum, defenders simply lack the necessary competitive fire and aggression.

In the second half, an even wilder scenario unfolded as France woke up to score four goals but conceded two more. The final 6-4 scoreline entered the history books as the highest-scoring third-place match ever, but analysts and fans rightly note that this was not a spectacle of top-tier football.

Instead, it was a spectacle born out of sheer tactical anarchy. When teams concede or score ten goals in a match of this magnitude, it is a clear indicator that they played without any fear of making mistakes, simply because mistakes no longer mattered to anyone. Managers Thomas Tuchel and Didier Deschamps looked relaxed and smiling at the final whistle—a sight you would never see in a match that truly shapes destinies and decides titles.

The only thing driving the biggest stars on the pitch were personal motives and statistics. Kylian Mbappe scored twice to become the all-time top scorer in World Cup history with 22 goals, Bukayo Saka netted a hat-trick, and Jude Bellingham set a record for an English player at a single World Cup with his seventh goal.

Yet, all of this served as mere consolation. England's assistant coach Anthony Barry perfectly described the dressing room atmosphere by stating that they were playing a game of broken hearts. Both sets of players openly admitted before the match that they would rather be anywhere else than on the pitch of the Hard Rock Stadium, fighting for a consolation bronze while Argentina and Spain prepared for the only thing that truly counts—the grand final.

Ten goals in a single World Cup match is usually synonymous with a historic spectacle. However, it was merely the byproduct of complete indifference, non-existent defenses, and the players' desire to end the agony as quickly as possible. As long as FIFA insists on the bronze medal match, we will continue to watch games of broken hearts, where football takes a backseat and the longing for vacation comes first.

WORLD CUP - KNOCKOUT STAGE

Sunday

Third-place match

France - England 4-6 (0-4)

/Mbappe 48, 66, Barcola 54, Dembele 90+6 - Rice 3, Konsa 18, Saka 37, 45+1, 87 pen, Bellingham 90+8/

Final

22.00: (2.35) Spain (3.00) Argentina (3.60)

***odds are subject to change***