England manager, Thomas Tuchel, has stated that both his team and the French players do not want to play in the 2026 World Cup third place match.
He said they will rather play in final on Sunday in New Jersey than in the third-place playoff scheduled for Saturday in Miami.
The Three Lions were just five minutes away from securing a spot in their second World Cup final, following Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute.
However, Enzo Fernandez’s equalised in the 85th minute and substitute Lautaro Martinez’s stoppage-time winner, ultimately endured defeat for the 1966 champions.
On the previous day, two-time champions France faced a 2-0 loss to the reigning European champions, with Mikel Oyarzabal converting a penalty and Pedro Porro scoring, thus ending outgoing Les Bleus manager Didier Deschamps’ aspirations for a second title.
In anticipation of the third-place match against Deschamps’ team on Saturday, Tuchel said (according to The Touchline, “None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match. They wish to compete in the final.
“We exerted all our efforts to achieve that. Everyone aims to win the World Cup, but that is the reality. We have one less day of recovery than France, but we will approach it with professionalism.”
(Daily Post)
