Hello and welcome to Day 38 of this sprawling World Cup.There is a hilarious scene in Yes, Minister when the Right Hoodwinked, sorry, Right Honourable Jim Hacker asks whether nuclear weapons are absolutely necessary. Surely, if push came to shove, the United States would protect Britain from Russia?A flabbergasted Sir Humphrey Appleby declares that Hacker should resign if he holds such unilateralist views, before pointing out that Britain’s nuclear weapons are not intended to protect it from Russia.They are meant to protect it from France.When the LSE-educated Hacker points out that the French are their allies, a beleaguered Sir Humphrey explains: “They are now, but they’ve been our enemies for most of the past 900 years. If they’ve got the bomb, we must have the bomb!”Whatever Sir Humphrey’s faults, the Oxford-educated man certainly knew his history. The modern Anglo-French feud began when William the Conqueror crossed the Channel in 1066, defeated Harold Godwinson at Hastings and installed a French-speaking Norman ruling class.A great deal of water has flowed beneath the proverbial bridge, or through the Channel, since then. England and France now face each other in the last place either wanted to be: the World Cup third-place match.
France vs England | Sunday, July 19, 2.30am IST | Miami Stadium
The third-place match is football’s equivalent of being asked to pose for photographs after being left at the altar. England thought it was coming home. France thought the Dictator was untouchable and beyond reproach. Both were taught harsh footballing lessons by the two principal heirs to Cruyff’s legacy.Now, as the world goes “aww” over a 19-year-old photograph of Messi and Yamal, France and England must play for a consolation prize that Ibrahima Konaté called a “chocolate medal”.
France’s Ibrahima Konate listens during a news conference ahead of their third-place World Cup soccer match against England, in Miami Gardens, Fla., Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The world and its uncle, including Trump, the avuncular leader of the free world nobody asked for, have already weighed in on Tuchel’s substitutions and tactics. Yet this match contains more than one damaged ego. Tuchel will want to demonstrate that England can mix it with the biggest teams. France would like to say au revoir to Didier Deschamps after a 14-year reign that delivered the 2018 World Cup, another World Cup final in 2022, the 2021 Nations League and a European Championship final in 2016.Then again, this is still a World Cup match. Messrs Mbappé, Kane and Bellingham can add to their totals and challenge for the Golden Boot. Mbappé can also become the leading scorer in World Cup history. Two goals would take him past Messi’s present record of 21, at least until the final. Nobody wanted to come to the afterparty. Now that they are here, somebody might as well dance.Warrior watchKylian Mbappé: One last act for the DictatorThe Dictator enters the match level with Messi on eight goals. He also has 20 World Cup goals, one behind Messi’s record of 21.Whether Deschamps starts him remains uncertain, although the France manager has confirmed that his captain is available. Mbappé has an incentive nobody else possesses: he can use the tournament’s least glamorous fixture to claim one of its most prestigious individual prizes.
Jude Bellingham: England’s emotional reset buttonBellingham was in the thick of things after the semi-final, appearing to slap Argentina substitute Valentín Barco.He can use this fixture to make a more constructive point and perhaps earn dressing-room bragging rights over his Real Madrid teammate Mbappé. Bellingham and Kane have six goals apiece, meaning both remain within striking distance of the Golden Boot.Battle planSpain showed the world how to beat this French team by trapping their gifted attackers in a Chakravyuh of isolation, cutting them off from the rest of the side. England should avoid sitting deep because that would give Mbappé, Olise and Doué the licence to thrill. The better plan would be to press France’s reshuffled defence, use Rogers between the lines and attack the space behind Theo Hernández. Saka can pin the French left-back, while Bellingham’s delayed runs could exploit the gaps created when France’s midfield moves towards the ball.England must also avoid turning the game into a pure sprinting contest. If possession repeatedly changes hands, France possess the faster and deeper group of transition attackers.
President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino speak at a reception at Trump Tower in New York, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
France will immediately target England’s unfamiliar full-back positions. If Quansah plays on the right and O’Reilly on the left, Mbappé and Doué will attempt to isolate them and force England’s central midfielders to provide protection. That could leave Cherki or Olise with space between the lines. Deschamps may also free his attackers from some of the caution that defined the defeat by Spain. Bronze finals tend to be more open because the fear of elimination has disappeared. That suits a French squad constructed around one-on-one dominance.The decisive area: England’s right against France’s leftSaka against Theo Hernández could shape the match. If Saka forces Hernández backwards, France lose one of their most important attacking outlets. If Hernández can overlap and create two-against-one situations alongside Mbappé or Doué, England’s right side could spend the evening retreating towards its own goal.Manager watchThis will be Deschamps’ 187th and final match as France manager. He took charge in 2012 and led them to the Euro 2016 final, the 2018 World Cup title, the 2021 Nations League crown and another World Cup final in 2022.
France’s head coach Didier Deschamps speaks during a news conference ahead of their third-place World Cup soccer match against England, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
His football was never universally loved, but France sashayed through most tournaments with an assurance few international sides could match. At some later date, Deschamps may wonder whether he should have stuck to his conservative guns instead of seeking universal affection. Victory would give him his 122nd win as France manager.Tuchel would argue that reaching the semi-finals represents progress, but the manner of England’s elimination has revived an old accusation: England bottle it when the going gets tough.He will want to demonstrate that this tournament marks the beginning of the Tuchel era rather than another familiar English near-miss. Victory would also give England their best World Cup finish since 1966.Walk down memory laneFrance and England have met three times at the World Cup:
- England won 2-0 in the group stage on their way to the title in 1966.
- England won 3-1 in the 1982 group stage, with Bryan Robson scoring after only 27 seconds.
- France won 2-1 in the 2022 quarter-final after Kane converted one penalty but sent another over the bar.
Off the fieldWhile England and France prepare to meet in Miami, the oldest match report in their rivalry has crossed the Channel. The Bayeux Tapestry, a 70-metre account of William the Conqueror’s invasion, or what younger generations might call a very long scroll, has returned to England for the first time in nearly a thousand years.
FILE – This photo taken Sept. 18, 2019 shows the 11th century Bayeux tapestry chronicling the Norman conquest of England, in Bayeux, Normandy, France. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, File)
England and France are siblings who have spent centuries fighting over the inheritance while borrowing each other’s clothes. The Norman Conquest created a cross-Channel ruling class, with French becoming the language of England’s court and its supposedly civilised classes, if such a thing has ever existed. English became intelligible by borrowing from French, including parliament, government, justice, authority and army.Under Henry II, the English crown controlled more of France than the French king. The monarch was a sovereign in England and a feudal subordinate in France, an arrangement designed to turn family law into litigation by sword. Edward III’s claim to the French throne produced the Hundred Years’ War, while France’s Auld Alliance with Scotland ensured England could be threatened from both directions, sometimes by someone later generations would imagine as Mel Gibson.After 1707, the rivalry became Britain against France and travelled across the world. Their armies, navies and trading companies fought from Canada to the Caribbean and India. Britain emerged from the Seven Years’ War with an empire. France took revenge by helping Britain’s American colonies win independence, spending so heavily that its monarchy eventually lost its head.Revolutionary France then offered Britain a nightmare: regicide and political contagion. Napoleon supplied the military version, marching through Europe while Britain relied upon ships, money and allies. Nelson shattered French naval ambitions at the Nile and Trafalgar; Waterloo ended the Napoleonic adventure.The rise of Germany made the old enemies allies. They fought through two world wars, although friendship never eliminated suspicion. Charles de Gaulle directed Free France from London, yet Britain also attacked the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir to stop it falling into German hands.After 1945, Britain looked towards Washington while France pursued the freedom to say non without asking America. De Gaulle twice blocked British entry into the European Economic Community. Britain joined in 1973 and left in 2020, reopening the ancient question of whether it belongs to Europe or merely lives beside it.Thirty-four kilometres of water separate them. The Channel has been wide enough to frustrate conquest, but never wide enough to permit escape.Dinner-table conversationIs finishing third at the World Cup an achievement? More importantly, is it worth staying awake for?
