The World Cup game nobody wanted became the game nobody wanted to end
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.— At the end of it all, there was laughter, joy and applause cascading from every corner of Miami Stadium. The World Cup match that nobody wanted had turned into one of the most memorable World Cup matches we’ll ever see.
The ‘Bronze Final’, as FIFA now calls the third-placed playoff, was worth it after all.
After much talk from England and France about preferring to be anywhere else but Florida, regrets still lingering over the semi-finals that slipped away, and all the punditry that suggested this match should not even exist, the sellout crowd of 64,478, plus the millions watching all over the world, were treated to an incredible show. By the time it was over, nobody wanted it to stop.
The best bit? You were spoilt for choice.
- 10 goals were scored, the most of any game at this tournament?
- England somehow contriving to almost throw away a 4-0 halftime lead only to finally close out the match 6-4?
- Kylian Mbappé leaving the World Cup after successive defeats, but potentially securing another Golden Boot with two more excellent finishes, becoming the competition’s alltime record scorer in the process?
- Brilliant goals scored by two of the planet’s great young talents, Jude Bellingham and Ballon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele?
- Or maybe England’s much maligned Bukayo Saka shaking off early struggles to finish with a hat trick?
This match was a highlights reel disguised as a 90-minute slugfest, and could easily have yielded many more than 10 goals. And there was a medal ceremony at the end to cap it all off.
Who isn’t happy that they got to enjoy all that instead of another day without a World Cup match? We’ll have plenty of those soon enough.
Well, the coaches for one. England’s Thomas Tuchel said his side had “a brilliant first half and then a turbulent second half” while his France counterpart Didier Deschamps called his side’s display before the interval “terrible. I did get angry at halftime. I asked them about pride and personality.” Saka, for his part, called the whole thing “crazy”.
They weren’t wrong but this game was not one for tacticians. It was a beautifully chaotic mess that had just as much bad in it as good, and did just as much to support the notion of playing these matches as it did provide arguments against it.
Detached from the high stakes that accompany all the other World Cup knockouts, it allowed for free-flowing delights which present the best soccer has to offer. The openness was in stark contrast to the defensive, tactical precision and gnawing tension that make the matches surrounding this one so captivating, but which can stifle some of sport’s beauty and brilliance.
There is a counter-argument to all the euphoria. Before halftime, the game risked descending into such a farce that it could have been remembered as the third-place match to end all third-place matches. It had the feel of a summer friendly or a charity match, with France guilty of defending that bordered on negligence.
It was only after Deschamps had delivered his halftime broadside that France were jolted into life, Mbappé scoring three minutes into the second half to kickstart the party. Before that, it felt like a bad blind date we were all being stood up for.
You could not really blame France for their lethargy, or England for running out of gas in the second half. How does anyone overcome seeing the chance to play in the World Cup final ripped away in time to play in front of the world again a few days later?
The slapdash defending did, however, raise the debate over whether such matches should really ‘count’, in a statistical sense. Goals scored and assists delivered in these games can help rewrite record books and build legacies: Mbappé’s place at the top of the historic scoring charts is down to his strikes here, while Michael Olise’s two assists pulled him clear of Pelé as the player to have set up most goals at a single World Cup (seven).
Should the feats achieved in these types of matches count just as much as the ones where everything is on the line?
That argument will continue. It will definitely return in four years time. But, for now, this match got us in the mood for the grand finale, during which we’ll have much more important things to worry about and enjoy.
In the end, the penultimate match of this World Cup served its purpose. It was a celebration of the sport and this wonderful tournament on the eve of its biggest moment. It was our last appetizer before the main course. And it was quite the treat.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
posted by Ricky at 11:58
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