WORLD CUP BETTING PREVIEW - FRANCE VS ENGLAND

World Cup

2026-07-18 - France vs England

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

France v England
Football: World Cup Third Place Playoff
Saturday 18th July 2026 - Kick Off 5pm (EST)
British Time 10pm

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France

The Didier Deschamps era comes to a conclusion this weekend, but there will be real disappointment that the final fixture of his time in charge of the French national team will be playing this Third Place Playoff rather than the World Cup Final. Throughout this tournament, France have shown up in big spots and taken games away from opponents, but they had looked vulnerable and Spain capitalised on that in the Semi Final.

The Semi Final was a big step up compared with the teams France had beaten in the run to the final four and it remains the feeling that the team were undercooked for the next level of opponent. They barely laid a glove on Spain in the Semi Final having overwhelmed the likes of Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco in the Knock Out Rounds and the lack of threat will feel like a real disappointment.

In reality there was little between France and Spain, but the latter showed the clinical and composed touch when they needed it most. That helped the European Champions end France’s bid to reach a third straight World Cup Final looked incredibly unlikely as soon as they fell behind on Tuesday. The team have scored plenty of goals in the World Cup Finals, but France created next to nothing against a very strong and underrated Spanish defence.

Changes are likely going to be made to give squad members an opportunity, although the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe will be keen to add to the goals scored in the 2026 tournament.

Predicted Line Up: Maignon, Kounde, Hernandez, Konate, Lacroix, Kone, Rabiot, Cherki, Doue, Dembele and Mbappe (4-2-3-1)

England

Losing a World Cup Semi Final will always feel like a disappointment, but the England defeat on Wednesday is being scrutinised by all with many blaming Thomas Tuchel’s decisions for the final outcome. The idea in replacing Gareth Southgate was for a manager to come in with stronger tactical ideas at the biggest moments, but Tuchel failed to deliver and some even questioned whether he should stay on as manager.

Much like his predecessor, England were able to get past those opponents they would have expected to beat, but came up short against one of the elite international football teams. This feels much more like the loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 Final when a big name nation looked there to be beaten once England took the lead, but just like that Final, the 2026 team fell into the trap of defending deep and ultimately allowed Argentina to grab the initiative and also a place in the World Cup Final.

When England fans look back at this World Cup, the win in Mexico City will remain the standout, but the grinding wins over Panama, DR Congo and Norway were perhaps a bigger reflection of where the squad stood. The defending has simply not been good enough at this tournament and Thomas Tuchel will have work to do if England are going to win the next major international tournament that they will be co-hosting in two years time.

The Third Place Playoff offers a chance for squad members to get a run and Thomas Tuchel should make some changes to the starting eleven. Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are still in the running for the golden boot, but images and video of Bellingham’s actions at the end of the defeat to Argentina may have caught the attention of the authorities.

Predicted Line Up: Henderson, Quansah, Spence, Stones, Konsa, Anderson, Bellingham, Rogers, Saka, Rashford and Kane (4-2-3-1)

Head to Head

England have won 1 of the last 9 games against France going back to the 1997 friendly tournament hosted by France ahead of the 1998 World Cup Finals.

It is France who have won 5 of the last 7 meetings, including a 2-1 win at the 2022 World Cup in the Quarter Final Stage.

Prediction

This has to be the one World Cup match that nobody wants to play, but it is France and England who will compete to finish third in 2026.

Both will be massively disappointed with the way the World Cup Semi Finals played out with France producing a truly limp display, while England took the lead against Argentina before resorting to type and trying to defend the advantage.

And like usual, England failed to do so.

Thomas Tuchel and Didier Deschamps will both have heard the criticism, but the latter is leaving France’s national team role anyway and the former is insisting he will remain in charge for the next major tournament England are co-hosting.

Tactically there have been questions about both- Tuchel for the Semi Final performance and the subs made, while Deschamps has long been seen as the manager holding France back, despite the successes he has had as manager of the national team.

On Saturday both teams have a chance to play without too much pressure and team news should be key to the outcome.

Four players chasing the Golden Boot- two on each side- should compete but there will be multiple changes to give the squad a chance in this one.

England have lost the two previous Third Place Playoff games played against Italy in 1990 and Belgium in 2018 and they have not defended well enough to believe they can do to France what Spain managed to do.

The depth of attacking options available to France gives them the edge in this fixture, which has tended to be high scoring, while the French have also won this tie twice in three previous attempts.

France have also won 5 of the last 7 against England and they can win a game in which they need to score at least twice on Saturday.

The Pick :

France 3-1 England

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back France to Win & Over 1 Total Goal (Bet Builder) at 2.00 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)