England’s World Cup opponents: France in profile

Head coach: Didier Deschamps

Last meeting: England 1-2 France, World Cup quarter-finals, 2022

England will face France for the fourth time at the FIFA World Cup when they meet Les Bleus in Saturday’s Bronze final in Miami.

The Three Lions came out on top on the first two occasions, winning a group stage game 2-0 on their way to lifting the trophy in 1966, and earning a 3-1 victory in their opening match of the 1982 tournament.

It was a different story in Qatar four years ago, however, as Didier Deschamps’ side edged England 2-1 in the quarter-finals thanks to goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud.

France are two-time world champions, having beaten Brazil 3-0 to lift the trophy on home soil back in 1998, and triumphed 20 years later in Russia with a 4-2 win over Croatia in the final.

Les Bleus have finished as runners-up twice, losing on penalties to both Italy (2006) and Argentina (2022). They’ve also been knocked out at the semi-final stage four times, including Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat by Spain in Dallas.

Only Germany (five) have played in more World Cup third place play-offs.

The head coach

Saturday’s game will see Deschamps take charge of his 187th and final match for the national team, 14 years after being appointed as head coach.

The Frenchman lifted the 1998 World Cup and EURO 2000 trophy as captain of his country.

After a runners-up finish at EURO 2016 on home soil, Deschamps won the World Cup two years later and reached the final in 2022.

The former Monaco, Juventus and Marseille manager leaves his role this summer.

Key players to watch

Currently second in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot rankings due to being an assist behind Argentina's Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe leads France's attack.

The Real Madrid forward has scored eight times at the World Cup this summer and is just a goal behind Messi on the all-time scoring chart, having netted 20 times in just 21 appearances across three tournaments.

Mbappe is supported by Michael Olise, who despite not scoring in North America so far, has been the chief creator of Deschamps’ side.

The Bayern Munich man is leading the way for assists at the World Cup, having created five goals from open play. Since 1966, only Brazil legend Pelé has more assists at a single tournament (six in 1970).

The other key component in France’s attack, Ousmane Dembele chipped in with five goals and two assists of his own as Les Bleus made it through to the semi-finals.

The PSG forward, who won Ligue 1’s player of the year award and scored in the UEFA Champions League final win over Arsenal, sits one behind England's Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham (both six goals) in the Golden Boot race ahead of the match.

Recent results

France’s hopes of a third consecutive World Cup final came to an end on Tuesday, as Spain defeated them 2-0 in the semi-finals courtesy of a Mikel Oyarzabal penalty and second-half strike from Pedro Porro.

Prior to that, Deschamps’ side knocked out Morocco in the quarter-finals (2-0), Paraguay in the round of 16 (1-0) and Sweden in the round of 32 (3-0).

Les Bleus picked up maximum points in the group stage with victories over Senegal (3-1), Iraq (3-0) and Norway (4-1).

France’s World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Robin Risser (Lens), Brice Samba (Rennes).

Defenders: Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Malo Gusto (Chelsea), Lucas Hernandez (Paris St-Germain), Theo Hernandez (Al Hilal), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamenaco (Bayern Munich).

Midfielders: N'Golo Kante (Fenerbache), Manu Kone (Roma), Adrien Rabiot (AC Milan), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris St-Germain).

Forwards: Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco), Bradley Barcola (Paris St-Germain), Rayan Cherki (Man City), Ousmane Dembele (Paris St-Germain), Desire Doue (Paris St-Germain), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), Jean-Phillipe Mateta (Crystal Palace), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan).