TOPSHOT - Belgium's team pose with their medals after winning their Russia 2018 World Cup play-off for third place football match between Belgium and England at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg on July 14, 2018. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS / …
PHILADELPHIA - Before the World Cup champion is crowned, there is one more match on the schedule: the Bronze Final.
What we know:
The Bronze Final, also known as the third-place match or third-place playoff, is played between the two teams that lose in the World Cup semifinals.
The winner finishes third in the tournament, while the loser finishes fourth.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Bronze Final is scheduled for Saturday, July 18, at Miami Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. ET.
The match comes one day before the World Cup Final, which will be played Sunday, July 19, at New York New Jersey Stadium.
What is the Bronze Final?
The Bronze Final is essentially the World Cup’s third-place game.
It does not decide the champion, but it does decide which semifinal loser leaves the tournament with a top-three finish.
For players and fans, the match can still matter. It is a chance to end the tournament with a win, secure a historic finish for a country, and give stars one more moment on the World Cup stage.
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The history
The first men’s World Cup third-place playoff was played in 1934, when Germany beat Austria 3-2.
There was also a third-place match in 1938, but the game did not return in 1950 because that tournament used a final round-robin group instead of the knockout format fans know today.
Since 1954, a third-place playoff has been played at every men’s World Cup.
Recent Bronze Final winners include Croatia, which beat Morocco in 2022, Belgium, which beat England in 2018, and the Netherlands, which beat Brazil in 2014.
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Every World Cup third-place winner since 1930
1930: United States — no third-place match
1934: Germany beat Austria, 3-2
1938: Brazil beat Sweden, 4-2
1950: Sweden — no third-place match; final standings were decided by the final group
1954: Austria beat Uruguay, 3-1
1958: France beat West Germany, 6-3
1962: Chile beat Yugoslavia, 1-0
1966: Portugal beat Soviet Union, 2-1
1970: West Germany beat Uruguay, 1-0
1974: Poland beat Brazil, 1-0
1978: Brazil beat Italy, 2-1
1982: Poland beat France, 3-2
1986: France beat Belgium, 4-2
1990: Italy beat England, 2-1
1994: Sweden beat Bulgaria, 4-0
1998: Croatia beat Netherlands, 2-1
2002: Turkey beat South Korea, 3-2
2006: Germany beat Portugal, 3-1
2010: Germany beat Uruguay, 3-2
2014: Netherlands beat Brazil, 3-0
2018: Belgium beat England, 2-0
2022: Croatia beat Morocco, 2-1
Why it still matters
The third-place match is sometimes treated like a consolation game, but it has produced memorable finishes and major national milestones.
For smaller or emerging soccer nations, finishing third at a World Cup can be one of the greatest achievements in program history. For established powers, it is often a chance to recover from semifinal heartbreak and leave the tournament on a high note.
The Source: This article was written using information from FIFA, FOX Sports and The Stats Zone.