MIAMI, July 17 (Reuters) – France are unhappy about having to play a World Cup third-place playoff against England on Saturday in Miami but it is the team’s duty to deliver a bronze medal to the nation, France coach Didier Deschamps told a press conference on Friday.
The French, world champions in 2018 and finalists four years ago, were one of the main title contenders and were hoping for a third straight final before being knocked out by European champions Spain in the semi-final.
It was their third successive major semi-final defeat by Spain, following Euro 2024 and the Nations League, and Saturday’s game will be the last under the 57-year-old Deschamps, who announced last year that he would leave when his contract expired after the tournament.
England on Saturday were ousted by Argentina, who staged a two-goal Lionel Messi-inspired late comeback to win 2-1.
“I have a duty for this game,” Deschamps told a press conference in Miami. “It is not a friendly. It is a third-place playoff. The players, staff, and I have the duty to reach this last objective. It is less important than the final. England does not want to play this game, and neither do we. But here we are.
“We have to set our eyes on that goal to be third and make this final goal a reality. We have this duty when wearing this jersey. In my head I know that it is my last match. I don’t want anybody to cry. The end is near but life goes on.”
Deschamps and his players were still digesting their semi-final loss and the coach said he would be making changes to his lineup with some players unavailable and some injured. He did not confirm their top scorer and captain Kylian Mbappe would start.
“He is available, that’s what I will say,” said Deschamps. Mbappe is joint top scorer of the tournament on eight goals, along with Argentina’s Messi.
France centre back Ibrahima Konate said despite the “bitter pill” of their semi-final loss, the players were eager to give Deschamps a successful farewell.
“None of us wanted to play for this third place but we have no choice,” Konate said.
“We want to pay back our coach,” he said. “He did so much for the France team. We must be grateful to him for that and we need to do everything we can to win this game… to get this chocolate medal, this bronze medal.”
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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