France captain Kylian Mbappe will start against England in the FIFA World Cup 2026 third-place playoff in Miami on Saturday, with both teams selecting largely rotated line-ups.
England have opted to bench key players Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane for the match.
Mbappe aims to strengthen his pursuit of the tournament’s Golden Boot and to surpass Lionel Messi as the all-time leading goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history. Currently, both players have scored eight goals at the ongoing 2026 World Cup. On the all-time World Cup goalscoring list, Messi leads with 21 goals, narrowly ahead of Mbappe on 20.
The match also marks the final game for Didier Deschamps as France coach after 14 years in charge, with Les Bleus fielding a predominantly second-string defence.
France’s hopes of reaching a third consecutive World Cup final ended with a 2-0 defeat to Spain in the semi-finals. Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot before Pedro Porro added a second goal, earning Player of the Match honours, to send Spain into the final against Argentina.
England suffered a comeback 2-1 defeat to Argentina in their semi-final in Atlanta. The defending champions overturned an initial deficit with Enzo Fernandez equalising and Lautaro Martinez scoring a stoppage-time winner to secure Argentina’s place in the final against Spain.
Line-ups for the FIFA World Cup 2026 third-place match are as follows:
England: Dean Henderson, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Djed Spence, Jarell Quansah, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Ivan Toney.
France: Mike Maignan, Malo Gusto, Ibrahima Konate, Theo Hernandez, Maxence Lacroix, Adrien Rabiot, Warren Zaire-Emery, Rayan Cherki, Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise, Desire Doue.