World Cup 2026 Third-Place Match & Final Recap
England's offensive movement looked good and direct. In the 2nd minute, Rice suddenly shot and scored from long range outside the box in a nonchalant manner. France's counter-attack looked threatening as well. Before the 18th minute, England scored again from a corner kick and header. England had it easier than expected against France as the English could find space and be lethal in counter-attack. Before the 37th minute, the back line was open again as the French were up forward in trying to score so England took advantage and scored their third. France's defence was totally broken as England scored their fourth going into stop-itch time. In the second half, France caught up 3 goals with quick passing forward movement. France also beefed up the back line. What was hopeless for France has turned into hopeful and momentum of attack was on their side. In the 86th minute however, England fortunately was fouled in the box and got a penalty kick to which Saka scored. England was getting fatigued. With about 2 minutes left of stop-itch, France scored one from counter-attack to be one goal closer. At the end of stop-itch time, England confirmed the win as Bellingham charged forward in an open backline and scored with his individual skills. It was an exciting goal fest of a match. France did great in the second half but it was too late as England widened the score gap too much in the beginning. The hidden hero in the England squad was Spence as he defended well and was the driving force of plays.
Spain pressured Argentina well and tried to control the game by possession as expected and Argentina looked to counter or make sharp forward movement. Despite Spain dominating possession, nothing much came of it and the first half was a scoreless stalemate. At the start of second half, Argentina made some errors and giveaways to which Spain should have taken advantage of but failed to capitalize on their chances as the finish was lackluster. Argentina had been aggressive and either fouling or faking being fouled so ultimately a red card was shown when there was a dangerous tackle (after accumulating the second yellow card). Spain had a good chance of a free kick at the center outside the box at the end of stop-itch time but it got blocked again. All the shots on target by Spain were directed at the keeper to be blocked. So onto extra time. It was a frustrating game watching the finishing, ball handling and improper refereeing which led to lost chances for both teams. Spain should've gotten the goal but Argentina's assimilation was considered as foul so the goal was disallowed. For Argentina, there was a clear push foul near the box in a one-to-one situation but wasn't called. At the start of the latter half of extra time, Spain finally scored; Spain's dominance in possession paid off. Near the end of extra time, Argentina pressured Spain with corner kicks and had close chances. It was a nail biting ending as one cannot predict what Argentina could do in the last second so Spain was hoping for time to pass and they indeed survived. Spain won with difficulty. Many criticized Argentina's performance and their trickery.
World Cup 2026 Awards
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