World Cup Monitor — 22:42 UTC: England v France third-place play-off offers Golden Boot twist and best finish since 1966

England's World Cup is not over yet: Thomas Tuchel's side face France in the third-place play-off on Saturday at 22:00 BST, live on BBC TV (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly5we2lgq4o). The match comes three days after Wednesday's 2-1 semi-final loss to Argentina (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly5we2lgq4o). The game still carries a major individual prize. France captain Kylian Mbappe and Argentina's Lionel Messi are level as the tournament's joint top scorers on eight goals, though Messi leads on assists (four to three); goals in third-place play-offs count toward the Golden Boot, so Mbappe can still overtake Messi before the final (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly5we2lgq4o). Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, on six goals each, remain two behind (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly5we2lgq4o). Victory would also give England their best World Cup finish since 1966, with only the 1966 triumph ranking above a bronze medal; England lost previous third-place play-offs to Italy in 1990 and Belgium in 2018 (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly5we2lgq4o). With the pressure off, BBC Sport notes Tuchel could hand a debut to Kobbie Mainoo — who has not yet played a minute — and give minutes to Ollie Watkins, while France may turn to 35-year-old N'Golo Kante, yet to feature (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly5we2lgq4o). Attention is already turning to Sunday's final. Spain meet Argentina on 19 July at 20:00 BST in the showpiece (https://www.theguardian.com/football/world-cup-2026). A striking subplot is that Messi, now 39, and Spain's 19-year-old Lamine Yamal will face each other for the first time in a competitive match; a 2007 photograph by Joan Monfort shows a smiling Messi cradling baby Yamal, later captioned "The beginning of two legends" (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c9w0j104rvgo). Yamal, who turned 19 on Monday, has already scored 56 career goals and won La Liga three times plus Euro 2024, outpacing Messi's haul at the same age, per BBC Sport (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c9w0j104rvgo). The final pitches football's most decorated player against its brightest young talent.