Can any football fans answer a question please? (World Cup)

[RevengeOfTheDirtyLaundry]

My question is - why did no one seem particularly bothered about the World Cup 3rd place play-off last night, or the fact England won it (in some style, it seems)?

I haven't watched any of the World Cup and don't watch any other football, so I can't really see this from a fan's perspective. I get that there was huge disappointment about not reaching the Final, but surely 3rd place is a really good result.

3rd out of 48 teams - that's brilliant - people should be celebrating! Well done England, anyway.

The England players donate their match fees don't they?

Bet the commentator will remember this one!

Maybe it should become more a thing. Best match so far

Funny how we are not so disparaging of bronze medals in Olympics etc, obviously people would prefer a gold, but people still celebrate a bronze

I guess because it’s a tournament and you only compete against some of the teams on your way to winning. So you’re not tested against everyone else competing.

Olympics you compete against everybody and end up with a final rank so being at the top of that is more of an achievement.

(Not all Olympic sports but traditionally at least)

It's sad that fans feel like that, and must put huge pressure on the team. I'm not getting the violins out for the team because I know footballers are extremely well paid for what they do, but it's a shame the fans (on the whole) see this as no consolation for not winning.

Yes the England team got $29 million… but the French team also got $27 million for coming fourth

You sound hysterical. Every team except one will have to concede that they didnt win this year. Being pleased with 3rd place when you are ranked 4th in the world is great.

And if you feel its a manager issue then why is that the players' fault? They worked hard and I am pleased for them and hope they are too.

I watched the match and I'm delighted with the result!

But you don’t compete against everyone in the Olympics either, there are heats in many races so many competitors will go out from each heat.

I agree with you that it was a big thing and coming third was amazing - best we have done since 1966.

I disagree with you that people don't care. All our friends who enjoyed the world cup were also watching last night. We stayed up for it. Our friends who haven't followed any of it didn't watch it. So same as the whole world cup really.

I have always thought it pointless, but actually it gave the teams who were grievously disappointed by their semi-final results a chance to re-group for one more match before going home, get behind their managers (I know Deschamps is going anyway) and give some of the less-used players a run out. Turned out to be hugely entertaining and certainly lifted my spirits a bit. I think third is an impressive achievement, I know it won’t be remembered in years to come, but it is one more step towards the goal of winning.

It’s not like the olympics where there is a prize for third place. If you don’t win it then it’s over. No one wants second or third place it’s just a chance for the players who didn’t play much to have a turn too. I’m half French and half English and didn’t care to watch it as it’s an irrelevant game

@ffsmyheadhurts that does explain the perspective, so thank you for your insight.

I still feel it's a shame and that England have done well on the whole. It isn't as if the team finished goalless in the semi-final, I saw on the news England were ahead before I went to bed that night, when the match had been going for some time, I was quite surprised the next day to find England hadn't won.

We’re on holiday with friends and we made an effort to watch it. We loved it.
My 12 year old was walking around wearing his England top all day and a few people stopped him to say how well England had done - never experienced that before!

It’s not a consolation is it? Surely you understand that sports are a competition?

It’s just a pointless game, whether you come third or fourth is irrelevant. It’s not even the first loser. It’s the second or third! The players need rest rather than playing in a dead rubber of a match. But it’s a money spinner so it’ll stay. Player welfare yet again coming well behind the greed of the game.

It's seen as little more than a friendly, when you consider what they could have won.

If you saw Bukayo Saka being interviewed after the match, the woman said "oh at least you got bronze!" (or words to that effect) and he wasn't impressed. They wanted to win.

Perfectly said.

Ah, that's nice to hear - really glad you and your friends enjoyed the match, there were lots of goals so must have been entertaining!

I think they should make the top 3 spots auto-qualification for the next tournament - so Spain, Argentina and the third placed team skip qualifiers next time around. Would add some jeopardy to the play off game and make it worth properly contesting.

That sounds like a great idea.

They got a bronze medal just like the Olympics

Why are you so exercised about this? The players didn’t want to play it, the managers didn’t want to play it, but tournament rules required, purely it for financial gain — why not just accept that?

It’s a knockout tournament. That isn’t how football tournaments really work. It’s a consolation prize and in terms of sporting records and history, it’s meaningless.

Think of, eg, Wimbledon, or the FA Cup - again, knockout tournaments. There’s no third-place playoffs for the losing semi-finalists. Because being third doesn’t really matter.

Last night’s match was a great game and fun to watch. I’m glad England won. But ‘coming third’ in a football tournament just… isn’t a thing. The match is just for revenue and neither team fielded their best players. It’s basically a friendly.

Does it count towards world rankings, which then effects their seeding in future tournaments like in other sports?

Completely agree with you. Also, it makes me wonder what kind of message we are sending to our children if we can’t celebrate the incredible achievement of coming in 3rd or taking part at all!