After yet more heartbreak for England in the World Cup semifinal clash against Argentina, comes the dreaded game that nobody wants to play in, the third-place playoff.
The Three Lions were the latest victims of Argentina’s incredible ability to come back late in games as they suffered a 2-1 defeat.
Anthony Gordon put England into a 1-0 lead early in the second half and a first World Cup final in 60 years was mere minutes away, before Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez scored to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
France on the other hand went out in a tame 2-0 loss to Spain in the other semifinal. England and France will now go head-to-head for the prize of finishing on a high.
So, for the final time this World Cup, ESPN takes you through the predicted line-ups.
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Predicted line-ups
England (4-2-3-1):
Jordan Pickford, Djed Spence, John Stones, Marc Guéhi, Nico O’Reilly, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane
France (4-2-3-1):
Brice Samba; Malo Gusto, Ibrahima Konaté, Maxence Lacroix, Theo Hernández; N’Golo Kanté, Warren Zaïre-Emery; Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki, Ousmane Dembélé; Kylian Mbappé
This match is a notoriously difficult game to predict lineups for with managers often choosing to rotate and involve players who have not had that much involvement in the tournament thus far.
However, Thomas Tuchel could still name his strongest available XI in an attempt to finish the World Cup on a high.
It is fair to eliminate Reece James and Bukayo Saka from proceedings due to the fitness issues they have carried throughout the tournament.
We may well see a bit of a new-look back four, with ESPN predicting that Nico O’Reilly will start on the left and Djed Spence on the right. It is possible that Dean Henderson or James Trafford will get their chance in goal — but Pickford is unlikely to be dislodged.
Ezri Konsa is available again after a two-match suspension for his red card against Mexico so is an option at centre-back or possibly right-back.
In the midfield, with Declan Rice has been managing injury and illness but is rarely left out. Jordan Henderson is out with a broken arm, so it seems inevitable that Kobbie Mainoo will finally get some minutes.
Further forward, Marcus Rashford and Eberechi Eze will be hoping to tempt Tuchel to tweak the starting XI to include them.
Harry Kane remains in the running for the Golden Boot and so will surely start, but Ollie Watkins or Ivan Toney will hope for some minutes from the bench.
