No World Cup games today as tournament enters rest period
Football fans will experience a brief pause in World Cup action as Thursday, July 16, and Friday, July 17, are scheduled rest days. The tournament will resume on Saturday with the third-place match, followed by the final on Sunday.
The third-place playoff will feature France against England, while the highly anticipated final will see Spain take on Argentina. Both matches will be broadcast live.
Upcoming Matches and Team Highlights
On Saturday, July 18, France will face England in the third-place match at 5 p.m. ET. The game will be held at Miami Stadium in Miami, FL. France entered the semifinals with six consecutive victories, having outscored opponents 16-2 before a 2-0 loss to Spain. Kylian Mbappé is currently tied for the Golden Boot lead with eight goals, and Michael Olise leads the tournament with five assists.
England narrowly missed their first World Cup final appearance since 1966, losing 2-1 to Argentina in the semifinal. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham have each scored six goals, making them two of the tournament’s top scorers.
The World Cup final is scheduled for Sunday, July 19, at 3 p.m. ET, featuring Spain against Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Spain reached their first World Cup final since their 2010 victory by defeating France 2-0. La Roja has conceded only one goal in seven matches, securing six clean sheets, and remains unbeaten in 37 consecutive international matches, matching Italy’s record from 2018 to 2021.
Argentina’s Path to the Final and Historical Context
Argentina secured their second consecutive final appearance with a dramatic comeback against England. Enzo Fernández scored an equalizer in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martínez headed in the winning goal two minutes into stoppage time. Lionel Messi assisted both goals, increasing his World Cup career assist total to 12.
Argentina is aiming to become the first nation to win consecutive men’s World Cups since Brazil achieved the feat in 1958 and 1962. Spain is seeking its second championship title.
The current World Cup semi-finalists, Spain, France, England, and Argentina, were also the top four teams in the FIFA rankings at the start of the competition. This marks a rare occurrence, as the semi-finals in previous tournaments, particularly before 2006, often featured teams outside the top four. For instance, in 2006, none of the top four ranked teams made it to the semi-finals.
The FIFA men’s rankings, introduced in 1993, cover the last nine World Cups. The combined FIFA ranking of this year’s semi-finalists is 10, which is the lowest possible. The previous best combined ranking was 25 in 2014, when Brazil (3) played Germany (2) and the Netherlands (15) faced Argentina (5).
Historically, Lionel Messi holds the record as Argentina’s youngest and oldest goalscorer. Similarly, Cristiano Ronaldo became Portugal’s oldest World Cup scorer at 41, having also been their youngest scorer in 2006.
France has been eliminated by the eventual champions seven times, leading Brazil, Germany, and the Netherlands, who have each been eliminated six times. Argentina is also tied with France, having been eliminated by the eventual winners seven times.
Both the third-place match and the World Cup final will be available for streaming on FOX One.
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Source: foxsports.com
