Today, England and France will compete for third place at the FIFA World Cup

On the night of July 19, the national teams of France and England will meet in the third-place match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The game will begin on Sunday at 2:00 a.m. Ashgabat time. The “bronze final” will be officiated by Venezuelan referee Jesús Valenzuela.

France suffered a 2–0 defeat to Spain in the semifinal. Earlier, Didier Deschamps’ team had produced a confident run in the knockout stage, earning a convincing 3–0 victory over Sweden in the round of 32, defeating Paraguay 1–0 in the round of 16 and beating Morocco 2–0 in the quarterfinal. Before the match against Spain, France had been regarded as one of the leading contenders to win the tournament.

England lost 2–1 to Argentina in a tense semifinal. English winger Anthony Gordon scored the opening goal in the 55th minute, but the team then surrendered the initiative. Midfielder Enzo Fernández equalised in the 85th minute, and striker Lautaro Martínez secured Argentina’s victory in the second minute of stoppage time.

Earlier, the Three Lions defeated DR Congo 2–1 in the round of 32, Mexico 3–2 in the round of 16 and Norway 2–1 in the quarterfinal.