First and foremost, there is still a trophy that players on both sides will be focused on: the Golden Boot.
France captain Kylian Mbappe has enjoyed a superb tournament and is currently level with Lionel Messi as this World Cup’s joint top scorer on eight goals so far. However, the Argentina great currently has the edge thanks to his four assists to Mbappe’s three.
Goals in third-place play-offs do count towards the Golden Boot award, though, so Mbappe can still overtake the former Barcelona forward, but Messi will have the opportunity to respond in the final itself.
Should Mbappe score, or provide two assists, he would follow in the footsteps of Italy’s Salvatore Schillaci, who clinched the Golden Boot in 1990 by scoring in the third-place contest against… England.
There is also a chance the Three Lions pair of Bellingham or Kane can also take it but they both have fewer assists, it would likely require a hat-trick to top the charts but you never know – and seeing top attacking talents go in search of goals is always fun to watch.
But as it stands now, Messi is the front runner for the golden boot award. He currently tops the list with 8 goals and 4 assists.
