Neither France nor England expected to spend this Saturday here. Both were beaten in agonizing fashion just days ago, and now they face off at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens for the tournament's bronze medal — a fixture essentially nobody in either camp asked for. Kickoff is 5 p.m. ET / 21:00 GMT.
France's exit came first: a 2-0 semifinal defeat to Spain in which Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty and Pedro Porro added a second, a French attack that never got going against a well-drilled Spanish defense. England's collapse was more brutal. Anthony Gordon had them ten minutes from a first World Cup final since 1966, only for Lionel Messi to set up Enzo Fernández and then Lautaro Martínez in the closing stages.
