Attention turns to the France vs England match in the third-place playoff at the 2026 World Cup, where the two teams seek to conclude their journey in the tournament by ascending the podium and securing the bronze medal.
Historically, the third-place match in the World Cup has been held since the second edition (1934) to determine the third and fourth places, and since then, the 1950 edition has been the only one that did not feature that match.
The German national team (counting West Germany and unified Germany) is the most crowned with third place in World Cup history with 4 medals, followed by France, Brazil, and Poland with two titles each.
Thus, the French national team enters the match against England in search of its third bronze medal in its history, after having won it in the 1958 and 1986 editions.
While the English national team hopes to achieve its first bronze medal, after losing the third-place matches in the 1990 and 2018 editions.
Record of third-place winners in the World Cup
Germany (4 times): 1934, 1970, 2006, 2010.
Brazil (twice): 1938, 1978.
France (twice): 1958, 1986.
Poland (twice): 1974, 1982.
Croatia (twice): 1998, 2022.
Austria (once): 1954.
Chile (once): 1962.
Portugal (once): 1966.
Italy (once): 1990.
Sweden (once): 1994.
Turkey (once): 2002.
Netherlands (once): 2014.
Belgium (once): 2018.
