Are we doing this? Well, I guess we are. There’s actually a World Cup match today — the bronze medal game between the two losers that lost the semifinals: France and England.
In theory, this should be an interesting match — two historic rivals, both very good teams in their own rights, battling it out to be the “best of the rest” and take home a medal they can display on their mantlepiece. In reality, nobody really gives a shit about this match, including, I’d suggest, the players. They’ve already
lost once. Now FIFA makes them play a pretty meaningless match to determine who comes in third in the World Cup. But does anyone really ever remember who came in third in the World Cup? No! I don’t remember who finished third in 2022, nor do I remember who finished third in 2018. Sometimes the managers even rotate to give players who didn’t get much playing time a chance to shine a bit. But usually it’s meaningless, and these matches can all too frequently turn into slog fests where nobody really cares, nobody really tries, and everyone tries very hard to forget it ever happened.
But maybe that won’t happen this time! Here’s hoping. This is your open thread.
France vs. England: how to watch
5 p.m. ET / 10 p.m. BST
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, USA
TV: FOX (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), BBC One (UK)
Stream: Fox One, BBC iPlayer
