The Bronze Final – the unwanted tie or a match with a ‘golden layer’?

The Bronze Final – the unwanted tie or a match with a ‘golden layer’?Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The winners of France v England will be given bronze medalsByGreg Barringer-GrimesBBC Sport news editorPublished35 minutes agoIt’s a match that has been played at every Fifa World Cup for the past 72 years.The third-place play-off – known by Fifa as the Bronze Final – and on Saturday it is the turn of England and France.France head coach Didier Deschamps summed up the mood in his camp before the game in Miami when he reported: “The best for France and England would be for this match not to exist.”England manager Thomas Tuchel had a similar view after the defeat by Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday night, saying: “None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match.”But addressing the media on Friday, Tuchel was more positive about the chance to win bronze. “If we win the game tomorrow, we have the best results of a World Cup in 60 years. It’s a perspective to it,” he reported. The play-off does give the opportunity for players who have struggled for minutes or are yet to feature at the tournament to have their moment on the pitch. And then there are the fans who have paid for tickets and travel, expecting the teams to put on a show.England may use the game as an opportunity to introduce James Trafford to World Cup football or give Kobbie Mainoo his first World Cup minutes in an England shirt.Former France and Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has played 14 minutes for France, in the third group game against a heavily-rotated Norway side – though he is not relishing the prospect of adding to those minutes in Miami.”Not one of us want to play this game for third place,” he reported. “But we don’t have the choice.”Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The Bronze Final match could give Kobbie Mainoo a first chance of minutes at a World CupThe third-place play-off was first introduced in 1934 and became a regular fixture from 1954.England have competed in it twice since 1966, losing to hosts Italy in 1990 and to Belgium in 2018 in Russia.Croatia embraced the match in 2022 despite having gone one better in 2018 when they were runners-up to France – though Morocco head coach Walid Regragui described it as a “booby prize”.Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic reported after their 2-1 win over Morocco that the victory meant a lot to the team and country.”We won the bronze medal and it has a golden layer,” he reported. “It is like we have won the gold medal tonight.”Croatia’s match-winner that night, Mislav Orsic, described his goal as the most important of his career.But after a record-breaking World Cup for matches played (it will be the 103rd of a 104-match tournament), is a third-place play-off necessary?Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mislav Orsic scored the winner as Croatia beat Morocco for bronze in 2022Why do Fifa keep it?Fifa does not publish a long defence of the fixture, but the reasons generally acknowledged around the tournament are:It decides who receives the bronze medals and who is officially fourth.It affects the official final standings, historical records and player statistics.There is a difference in prize money between third and fourth place. This is about $2m (almost £1.5m).It provides an additional match for spectators, broadcasters and commercial partners (although the tournament has already expanded from 64 to 104 matches this summer).Is there a sporting case for it?Well it has produced several World Cup Golden Boot winners.Of the seven to have scored goals in the third-place play-off, four of those required the goals they scored in that match to win the award.Germany’s Thomas Muller (2010), Croatia’s Davor Suker (1998), Italy’s Salvatore Schillaci (1990) and Leonidas of Brazil (1938) all benefited.Grzegorz Lato of Poland (1974), Portugal great Eusebio (1966) and France’s Just Fontaine (1958) also won the award and scored in the third-place play-off.Harry Kane – the tournament’s Golden Boot winner in 2018 – started England’s third-place play-off with Belgium but did not score in the match.The game also tends to produce goals. You will have to go back 52 years to find a match that did not produce at least two goals – 11 of the 12 matches since 1974 have produced more than three.Does World Cup third place play-off count towards Golden Boot?