Deschamps takes his last France bow in Miami, with the Golden Boot still open

France and England will meet at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday for the bronze medal, a fixture neither side circled when they arrived in North America. Both come to Miami nursing the same wound. Spain saw off France 2-0 in the first semi-final; the following day Argentina beat England 2-1, Lionel Messi teeing up both goals, first for Enzo Fernandez and then for Lautaro Martinez late on. Spain and Argentina head for MetLife and the final. France and England are left with the consolation game.

That fixture usually feels like an afterthought. This one, for three separate reasons, does not.

Deschamps signs off

For Didier Deschamps, Saturday is the end of the road with France. He announced in January 2025 that he would step down after the 2026 cycle, and this will be the last time he stands in the technical area as manager, closing out 14 years in the job. He took charge in 2012. He won the World Cup in 2018 and led France to the final in 2022. A third-place playoff is an odd stage for a farewell of that weight, but it is the one he has been handed. The send-off carries a strange mix of ceremony and regret: a world champion coach bowing out not in a final, but in the game for third.

Reports say Zinedine Zidane has a verbal agreement to succeed him, though France have confirmed nothing. Whatever follows, the players know what the afternoon means to the man on the touchline, and the way they perform for him will tell its own story.

Tuchel's first tournament ends early

For Thomas Tuchel, this is unfamiliar ground of another sort. His first tournament in charge of England finishes in Miami rather than at MetLife, one semi-final short of the target. Reaching the last four was no small thing for a manager still new to the job, but the semi-final is where the run stopped. Defeat by Argentina, with Messi's fingerprints on both goals, will sting for a while yet. How a wounded side responds in a match with no obvious reward says plenty about the project he is trying to build.

The Golden Boot is still open

Here is the reason the neutral clicks. The race for the tournament's top scorer has not been settled, and Saturday could still move it. Messi and Kylian Mbappe are level on eight goals. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham sit on six. Erling Haaland has seven, but Norway are out, so his tally is frozen where it is.

That leaves Mbappe, Kane and Bellingham all on the pitch on 18 July, each with one last afternoon to climb. A couple of goals from any of them would rewrite the top of the chart. Messi, on eight, must wait for the final on 19 July. The tie-break runs goals first, then assists, then fewest minutes played, and Messi's two assists against England nudged the assist column, though the reporting differs on who edges it as things stand. Nobody has won it. Not yet, and not here on its own.

What is at stake, and when

Kickoff at the Hard Rock Stadium is around 5pm ET on Saturday, with tickets reported at face value from roughly $165 to $1,125, per Goal.com. Third place in the world is the official prize on the day. A great manager's send-off, a bruised England's answer and a scoring chart still in flux are the real reasons to tune in.