They call it the real final: the people’s final.
It’s the match for diehard fans, a match for the losers, the match which celebrities don’t bother to turn up for.
A match for those that love their country and football.
On Saturday, England and France turned out to play the game nobody wants to play: the playoff for third place. No expectations or hype, no trophy to take home.
Yet, it was an extraordinary game, England’s best performance since it won the World Cup in 1966, a match of drama and records. A once in a lifetime match even.
We saw the ‘beautiful game’ (originally nicknamed o jogo bonito in Portuguese by Brazilian legend Pele): creative passing, and acrobatic skills, performances that resemble art rather than just sport. We saw how football unifies, brings people and communities together like nothing else.
As they went out onto the pitch at the Miami Stadium, England and tournament favorites France, had disappointment etched in their minds after crushing defeats to Argentina and Spain in the semi-finals.
Most players probably wanted to be anywhere else than playing for a World Cup consolation prize: at home or on holiday nursing their pain and frustration and trying to forget about it.
Instead of competing in Sunday’s final in New York, England and France were merely battling for the third-place spot, also known as the bronze medal.
No hype, no tension, no big names in the stands like David Beckham or Mick Jagger who turned out for England’s semi-final 2-1 defeat to Argentina.
Yet the match in Miami quickly turned into the most thrilling of the tournament. One for the record books.
There were a spectacular 10 goals, the highest at a World Cup game in 44 years. France hadn’t conceded that many goals in an official game since 1908. Les Bleus made a spectacular comeback from 4-0 down, taking it to 4-3 in the first 18 minutes of the second half, temporarily unnerving the Three Lions, before England found another gear and made it 6-4 at the final whistle.
Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick, two goals and converted a penalty. Jude Bellingham waited with the ball to wish him luck before his hat-trick opportunity.
“Jude was …was the first one to say, ‘Go and get your hat trick.’
Bellingham, 23, made history as the highest-scoring midfielder in the tournament’s history, but he did it a minute after coming on and then England received an 87th-minute penalty, It was the most goals scored by an Englishman at a single World Cup.
And France’s Kylian Mbappe became the World Cup’s all-time top scorer with 22 goals, one over Argentine’s Messi.
“I would have preferred not to be the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history and instead be able to play in the World Cup final tomorrow,” he said echoing the disappointment of the 22 players.
It was vindication for England coach, German Thomas Tuchel, excoriated for his defensive tactics which potentially cost England a place in the final. It was a bitter-sweet final match for France’s Didier Deschamps, after 14 years as coach.
At the final whistle, the players embraced like true sportsmen.
Post-match comments showed what makes them the greatest teams in the world: sportsmanship, professionalism with a focus on future games.
On Saturday in Florida, we saw ‘the beautiful game.’
Spain win World Cup for second time after defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time
