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Choose your England team to play France in World Cup third-fourth play-off match
Jul 17 2026 14:48 · By David Dubas-Fisher,Data Investigations Editor · 7 Reads
Has anyone seen Kobbie Mainoo?
Expect Thomas Tuchel to unbutton the
Gareth Southgate
waistcoat and ring the changes, as
World Cup
semi-final losers
England
and France face each other in a game nobody wants.
Saturday's third-fourth play-off is problematic for players, managers, fans, but also statisticians - because it can skew important data trends and even impact Golden Boot tallies.
It will be Didier Deschamps final match in charge of France. Will he pick Kylian Mbappe to score three past Dean Henderson? Or will he also make wholesale changes and give his big stars a well-needed rest.
What would you do? Start looking forward to Euro 2028 and unleash Mainoo to keep possession under pressure, hoping it is his "English DNA"? Or keep flogging
Harry Kane
and
Jude Bellingham
in case they run riot and pick up at least one top scorer trophy from this summer's efforts?