France Prepares to Face England in World Cup Bronze Final
France faces England tonight in Miami for the World Cup Bronze final. It will be Didier Deschamps’ last ever game as Les Bleus manager before passing the baton to his former France and Juventus teammate, Zinédine Zidane. Deschamps made it clear how disappointed he and the France players were to play the Bronze final instead of Sunday’s final, but he intends to finish his 14-year tenure with a win.
With little at stake against the Three Lions, Deschamps is expected to field a rotated team, providing fringe players with the chance to participate in a World Cup. Injured Arsenal centre-back William Saliba won’t feature after throwing the towel against Spain in the semi-final. Maxence Lacroix and Ibrahima Konaté are expected to start together in defense, with Dayot Upamecano getting a rest.
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Kylian Mbappé is set to start. The Real Madrid centre-forward still has the chance to win the World Cup Golden Boot for the second consecutive time and is currently level on goals with Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
France likely line-up v England
Mike Maignan; Théo Hernandez, Maxence Lacroix, Ibrahima Konaté, Malo Gusto; Adrien Rabiot, Warren Zaïre-Emery; Désiré Doué, Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki; Kylian Mbappé. (L’Éq)