FIFA World Cup 2026 - Semis & Third-Place Match Quiz

Answer: Aurelien Tchouameni

Aurelien Tchouameni had been left out of the Round of 16 and quarter final matches against Paraguay and Morocco respectively, suffering from a thigh injury. Barcola was also recalled for this match, replacing Doue in the starting line-up.

Answer: 3

France had conceded two goals; one against Senegal in their opening group match, and one against Norway in their closing group match. Spain had conceded just the single goal, against Belgium in their quarter final.

Answer: Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain)

In the 6th minute, a Bradley Barcola cross was deflected behind for a corner by Spain's Pau Cubarsi. From the corner, Adrien Rabiot's attempted volley went well wide. In the 10th minute a free kick on the edge of the area saw Alex Baena's shot hit tamely into the wall. In the 16th Ousmane Dembele played a brilliant through ball from near his own penalty area half the length of the field to Kylian Mbappe, but he was crowded out. The ball eventually fell to Michael Olise, whose shot was deflected out for a corner by Cubarsi. In the 20th minute Marc Cucrella's cross was overhit but as Lucas Digne tried to control the bouncing ball, he kicked Lamine Yamal who was coming through on his blind side. Penalty to Spain. By the time the usual arguments were held, and the psychology games were enacted, it was the 22nd minute by the time Mikel Oyarzabal smashed the ball hard to Mike Maignan's left. 1-0 to Spain.

In the 34th minute Dani Olmo's shot for Spain went pitifully wide and high. In the 36th minute Barcola's attempt at the other end was a lot closer, but still over. In the 37th minute Pedro Porro's dipping volley for Spain also went over. In the 38th minute, following a lazy clearance from Maignan that found Alex Baena near the edge of the area, a slick one-touch passing movement by Spain ultimately saw Fabian Ruiz's stabbed shot go wide of the post. In the 42nd minute a through pass put Mbappe away but Spanish keeper Unai Simon had sensed the danger and was out of his area to get to the ball first. In the 2nd minute of stoppage time, Jules Kounde's cross for France just eluded the head of Mbappe. Half time, 1-0 to Spain.

In the 52nd minute Oyarzabal's attempt from outside the area went over. In the 55th minute Barcola burst into the area but Simon claimed the ball at his feet. In the 58th minute Baena's shot was charged down. When the ball was recovered, Pedro Porro and Olmo played a wonderful one-two to put Porro one on one with Maignan, and he found the corner of the net. 2-0 to Spain. In the 61st minute Yamal had the ball in the net again but was a shoulder offside. In the 64th minute Mbappe's cross/shot was beaten away at the near post by Simon. In the 67th minute Mbappe's shot flashed just wide of the far post, after a touch from Cucurella. In the 68th minute Doue's shot was charged down. In the 78th minute Ferran Torres' header went just wide.

In the 81st minute Simon rushed out of his box to clear but his sliced header went to Doue. You could see the cogs turning in Doue's mind: "control the ball, chip the keeper from 35 metres". By the time he had processed this, taken one more touch than he needed to, and then stuffed up his chip by hitting it along the ground, it was saved by the retreating and relieved Simon. It was emblematic of how France's whole match had gone. In the 82nd minute Simon bravely rushed out and saved a Theo Hernandez shot with his face. In the 89th minute Mbappe's free kick went over the top. In the 4th minute of stoppage time Nico Williams' shot for Spain hit the side netting. In the 5th minute of stoppage time Dembele's hard shot was saved comfortably by Simon. In the 7th minute of stoppage time Dembele's shot was beaten away by Simon. From the recycled ball, Mbappe's shot sailed harmlessly over. Full time, 2-0 to Spain.

So, Spain won the match 2-0. La Roja progressed to the Final and Le Bleus won't want to admit they were completely outplayed on the day - the third-place place match await them. France had won their previous four semi-finals after losing their first three. Kylian Mbappe played his 21st match in World Cup Finals, a French record. In the World Cup Final, Spain played Argentina. In the third-place place match, France played England.

Answer: Enzo Fernandez (Argentina)

The game started off with a lot of niggle, which surprised nobody, given the history, footballing and otherwise, between the two countries, in the 7th minute Morgan Rogers' cross for England has blocked behind. In the 11th minute Anthony Gordon's cross was gather by Argentina's keeper, Emiliano Martinez. In the 14th minute Gordon fancied himself as Diego Maradona '86, as his mazy run took him past a number of Argentine defenders. Unfortunately, he was not El Pibe de Oro ("The Golden Boy") and finally got tackled a number of seconds after he should have either shot or laid the ball off. In the 20th minute Reece James' cross was gathered by Martinez. In the 21st minute a cross from Julian Alvarez was eventually cleared by the English defence. In the 22nd minute Alvarez's cross was blocked by James.

In the 24th minute a Lionel Messi free kick was fed to Diego Simeone whose cross was blocked by England's Djed Spence. In the 33rd minute John Stones' header from Declan Rice's free kick went wide of the Argentine goal. In the 36th minute a James free kick was driven in hard and beaten out by Martinez, In the 38th minute Messi's shot was blocked and the follow up from Enzo Fernandez went just over the angle of bar and post. In the last minute of stoppage time Rice's cross was deflected over. Half time, score was 0-0.

In the 47th minute Alvarez's shot was smartly saved by Pickford at the near post, and the follow up was thrashed into the side netting by the same player. In the 50th minute Spence's cross was cleared by the defence. In the 51st minute the same thing happened with Morgan Rogers. In the 54th minute Nahuel Molina's cross for Argentina was cleared. In the 55th minute Roger's cross from the right was met by Gordon in the six yard box and he side footed it into the corner of the net. 1-0 to England. In the 57th minute Giuliano Simeone was clear on goal and the covering tackle from Spence took the ball of his toe just as he was about to shoot. In the 59th minute Molina's cross floated out at the far post. In the 60th minute Simeone's cross was headed clear. In the 61st minute Fernandez's shot sailed over the top. In the 65th minute Messi's dink to the far post was headed back across by Fernandez but that was cleared by Stones. In the 66th minute Rice's long range shot was well held by Martinez. Kane's shot from the follow up was blocked.

In the 68th minute Nicolas Tagliafico's cross was blocked behind by Elliot Anderson. In the 69th minute Messi's cross was met with a diving header by Nico Gonzalez, but the English keeper Jordan Pickford got down smartly to his right to bat the ball away. In the 74th minute Gonzalo Montiel's cross was cleared by James. In the 76th minute Rodrigo de Paul's cross was headed against the post by Alexis Mac Allister. In the 77th minute another dinked cross from Messi found Gonzalez's head but his effort flashed across goal. In the 79th minute England had a breakaway but Rogers' indecision saw his eventual shot blocked. In the 81st minute de Paul's cross was cleared. In the 84th minute de Paul's shot was blocked. Following that Messi's cross was overhit and went wide of the far post.

In the 85th minute Fernandez's long range effort was tipped over the bar by Pickford. From the resultant corner, Fernandez hammered the ball in from 25 metres. Score was 1-1. In the 88th minute Messi's cross was headed away by Stones. In the 2nd minute of stoppage time Mac Allister's long range drive hit the post, this time the other one. From the follow up, Messi's run and cross from the right hand side saw a perfect cross into the six yard box for Lautaro Martinez to head home from close range. 2-1 to Argentina. In the 6th minute of stoppage time, Ezri Konsa's cross was headed clear by Gonzalez. In the 9th minute of stoppage time Marcus Rashford's run to the byline and cut back was cleared by Lisandro Martinez Full time, 2-1 to Argentina.

That was Argentina's sixth semi-final and they'd now won them all. Messi became the oldest player to play in a semi-final, at 39 years and 21 days of age. In the World Cup Final, Argentina played Spain. In the third-place match, England played France.

Answer: Giuliano Simeone

Giuliano Simeone started instead of Rodrigo De Paul because Lionel Scaloni made a tactical decision aimed at adding width, pressing intensity, and speed on the right flank - areas where Argentina had been struggling in the knockout rounds. Medina, Barco nor Palacios made it onto the pitch at all during the game. Rodrigo De Paul did, however - he replaced Giuliano Simeone!

Answer: Second half stoppage time

England took the lead after 55 minutes through Anthony Gordon. Five minutes before full time Enzo Fernandez equalised and then two minutes into second half stoppage time Lautaro Martinez popped up in the six yard box to nod home the winner.

Answer: 7

In the second minute Marcus Rashford's cross for England was just behind Ivan Toney in the box. In the 3rd minute Desire Doue played a poor pass in midfield, the ball was picked up by Declan Rice, who advanced down the middle and put a sidefooted effort low into the corner of French keeper Mike Maignan's goal. 1-0 to England. In the 5th minute Mbappe's shot for France was changed down in the box. In the 7th minute Rashford's shot on target was blocked behind for a corner by Malo Gusto. In the 8th minute Eberichi Eze's shot was blocked. In the 11th minute a shot from outside the area by Rayan Cherki was beaten away by England's keeper Dean Henderson. In the 12th minute Bukayo Saka cut in from the right and drilled his shot into the far corner of the French goal, but it was ruled out for offside. In the 15th minute Mbappe's run to the byline saw his low cross deflected behind my Mark Guehi. In the 18th minute Saka was away down the right again, cut inside but his shot was deflected by Maxence Lacroix. In the 19th minute the resultant corner from Rice was put into the far corner by Ezri Konsa's glancing header. 2-0 to England.

In the 22nd minute Mbappe's long range shot went just wide of Henerson's left hand post. In the 33rd minute Rashford's 25 metre strike was well saved by Maignan. In the 35th minute Mbappe's shot was pushed behind by Henderson. In the 36th minute Cherki's cross was beaten out by Henderson. From the rebound Rashford was sent away but his one on one attempt was blocked by Maignon. The rebound spilled to Saka, whose shot was blocked. That rebound fell back to Rashford who fed Saka again and he sidefooted it into the net. 3-0 to England. In the 40th minute Rashford mis-hit his cross and it looped into Mainan's hands. In the 41st minute Saka's cross went wide at the far post. In the 42nd minute Rashford's cross was missed by Toney in the six yard box. In the 1st minute of stoppage time, Eze's through ball found Saka on the edge of the area whose first time finish found the far corner. 4-0 to England. In the 4th minute of stoppage time, Toney's shot was blocked behind. Half time, 4-0 to England. Neither team can believe the position they are in. What will the second half bring? Will England continue the onslaught, or will France appear from half time a changed side?

Didier Deschamps rung the changes for France at half time, making four changes. In the 48th minute Michael Olise fed Mbappe in the area and his first time finish into the far corner was perfect. 4-1 to England. In the 49th minute Ollie Watkins shot went tamely wide of the French goal. In the 50th minute Olise's run and cross was deflected and well saved by Henderson. In the 51st minute Adrien Rabiot's volley was blasted well wide. In the 54th minute Eze collected the ball near his own area, beat three defenders but his attempted chip from long range went wide. In the 54th minute Bradley Barcola ran onto a through pass to blast his shot into the near corner of the net. 4-2 to England. In the 58th minute Djed Spence's cross was deflected for an English corner. In the 59th minute Toney's header from Rice's corner was well saved down low by Maignan. In the 61st minute Olise's shot from outside the area fizzed past the post. In the 63rd minute Eze played a lovely dink over the top in the area, but Toney was dispossessed of the ball the moment he got it. In the 64th minute Eze's shot was blocked. Up to the other end and Ousmane Dembele's shot was saved by Henderson.

In the 65th minute Dayot Upamecano's long range shot was beaten away by Henderson. In the 66th minute Mbappe latched onto a pass from Olise and scored into the far corner. 4-3 to England. The French were on fire, England were rocking. In the 75th minute Gusto pass across the edge of the area to an unmarked Olise, who sliced his shot wide. In the 77th minute Guehi took the ball off Olise's foot when he was about to shoot. In the 79th minute Mbappe's shot was blocked by Jarrel Qunasah. In the 80th minute Jude Bellingham danced his way into the area, but his shot was blocked by Maignan. Morgan Rogers' follow up shot was blocked. In the 81st minute an interchanged of passing in the England area between Dembele and Olise saw the latter's shot go just wide. In the 84th minute Mbappe's long range effort was comfortably saved by Henderson.

In the 85th minute Roger's through ball saw Spence fouled in the area by Gusto. Penalty kick awarded. Bukayo Saka stepped up to take the kick, he was on a hat trick. Could he exorcise his demons from missing in the penalty shootout in Euro 2020? He shot low and hard to the keeper's left and scored. Hat trick for Saka, 5-3 to England. In the 1st minute of stoppage time Barcola's shot was deflected for a corner. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time Dembele's cross was blocked by Trevor Chalobah. In the 6th minute of stoppage time Dembele was sent clear by Upamecano on the right, cut inside and buried his shot in the far corner. 5-4 to England. In the 8th minute of stoppage time England worked to clear the ball from their own area, the ball from Saka saw Watkins held back by Upamecano but the referee played advantage as the ball ran for Bellingham who run from halfway saw him beat Lacroix, cut across the area, around Maignan and the retreating Upamecano, and shoot into the corner of the net. 6-4 to England, full-time.

So, England claim third place in the tournament, their best finish since winning the World Cup 60 years earlier in 1966. France had to settle for fourth. France had never before conceded three goals before half time in a World Cup Finals match. Saka's first goal was the 300th of the tournament. Bellingham's goal took him to seven for the tournament, the most ever scored by an English player at a World Cup finals tournament. The aggregate of ten goals in this match eclipsed the previous record for a third-place match, that being France's 6-3 victory over West Germany in Sweden 1958.

Mbappe's two goals took him to ten for the tournament and therefore two clear of Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot (notwithstanding Messi had the Final to play a day later). His second goal also meant he became the all-time leading scorer of World Cup Finals goals, with 22).

Answer: Declan Rice and Kylian Mbappe

Thomas Tuchel sprung a surprise by leaving Harry Kane out of the starting lineup and installing Rice for only his third start as captain. Mbappe remained as French captain. These respective moves would potentially affect the race for the Golden Boot award, with Mbappe being tied on eight goals with Lionel Messi, and Kane two behind on six.

As it turned out, Mabappe scored two goals to take him clear of Messi; Kane did not make it onto the pitch at any stage.

Answer: It was the first time a Crystal Palace player had started a World Cup game for England

This match was only Henderson's fifth senior appearance for England, what a memorable one it turned out to be. Well, memorable in the first half, the second half left a lot to be desired in you were English, but it tuned out okay in the end; England beat France.

Answer: 10

Playoff matches at the World Cup have a rich history of being open entertaining affairs, this one certainly fit the bill. The aggregate of ten goals in this match eclipsed the previous record for a third-place match, that being France's 6-3 victory over West Germany in Sweden 1958.