16 Jul 2026 10:40:02
Someone posted last night, sorry can't remember who, that Messi has won the golden boot. He hasn't yet as Mbappe could still overtake him in the 3rd and 4th place play off.
16 Jul 2026 11:08:11
That game shouldn't even be happening.
Pointless game.
Mbappe probably won't play in it as he has been nursing an injury.
16 Jul 2026 11:38:01
He'll want to play in it if he has a chance of winning the golden boot.
16 Jul 2026 12:18:42
I agree that it's a waste of time. It's all about money with ticket sales and advertising and TV rights.
16 Jul 2026 12:26:45
More money wants money. These players have played a season of football, some with European cup games, international qualifying and a full WC, and they want another game for 3rd and 4th place.
Ridiculous in my opinion!
16 Jul 2026 12:31:02
Yeah, it was me and I completely forgot there was a 3rd/4th game playoff.
Absolute pointless game!
16 Jul 2026 12:35:53
JFM10, can't really say it's about money when we've had a 3rd 4th place play off since the 30s.
16 Jul 2026 12:13:40
Storm, couldn't agree more. I don't get why they have the 3rd and 4th place match! There would be no game I'd rather not play in if I was a pro footballer. Imagine the heart ache of losing a semifinal then having to play in that a few days later. 🤦
16 Jul 2026 13:03:14
Of course it's about money. Did they not sell tickets in the 30's? FIFA is all about the money.
16 Jul 2026 13:06:13
He will want to play, but if he is injured, like reports say, he didn't do much training from 1/4 to semi, then Real will not want him to play.
{Ed001's Note - btw the reason for a 3rd place play off was because the teams wanted it. They didn't want to travel to the tournament unless there were enough matches to make it worth their while. It made little, if any, money back then, so little that they struggled to fill the tournament with enough teams. In 1950, they actually couldn't fill all the groups because most of the countries simply couldn't afford it following WW2.}
16 Jul 2026 13:15:34
Time will tell, I expect he'll line up on Saturday.
16 Jul 2026 13:31:23
Cheers Ed. It's chnaged a lot since back then. It should be removed just my opinion
{Ed001's Note - I fully agree. It meant something back then. It still does matter if it is a team like say Egypt, who have not reached the stage before, but to teams like England and France, it is just a pain.}
16 Jul 2026 13:42:05
Good info Ed but obviously that's no longer the case.
{Ed001's Note - I believe the WC is now the richest tournament in the world. It will make obscene amounts of money for FIFA, when once it cost them money. They used to have to pay countries to take part in the early days. But the Olympics was seen as the true world championship of football back then. I think it would be the 1950 one that changed it, which is one of the things that cost India so badly as they chose to concentrate on the 1948 London Olympics and withdrew from the 1950 World Cup. In those days they were one of the better teams in the world but they turned down their invite and faded away from the top afterwards.}