England and France, the losing semi-finalists, play in the third-place playoff at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. Coverage from multiple outlets frames the match as the tournament’s penultimate game, setting it up as a last chance for both teams to finish in third place.
The reported team news is that Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham both start the match on the bench, rather than in the starting XI. Other lineup details are not provided in the supplied excerpts, but the consistent reporting across outlets indicates a shared approach to the same key selection decision.
The third-place match follows the two teams’ semi-final defeats and pits England against France directly for final placement. The shared focus across sources is the matchup itself and the high-profile omission from the starting lineup of Kane and Bellingham, which shapes expectations for how each side will use them during the game.
