Didier Deschamps made six changes to France's starting lineup for the World Cup third-place match against England, keeping Kylian Mbappé in the side and giving several less-used players a final chance before the squad breaks up. The France captain started again, while Mike Maignan, Adrien Rabiot, Michael Olise and Désiré Doué also kept their places from the semifinal loss to Spain.
The timing matters because France were playing their last match of the tournament, and Deschamps said it would also be his final game in charge. After Tuesday's 0-2 defeat to Spain in Dallas, the third-place game became less about consolation than about who would get minutes before Saturday evening's dispersal. That is why Rayan Cherki was named at number 10, Warren Zaïre-Emery partnered Adrien Rabiot in midfield, and France's back line was reshuffled around Gusto, Konaté, Lacroix and T. Hernandez.
One change was forced. Brice Samba was injured and unavailable, so Maignan did not get the rest he might otherwise have had. England also altered its own plan, with Thomas Tuchel leaving Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham out of the lineup and giving the captaincy to Declan Rice in Kane's absence, while Dean Henderson replaced Jordan Pickford in goal. Tuchel described the fixture as the 'petite finale', and the selection choices on both sides matched that idea: a match with a place on paper, but a much smaller place in the wider tournament.
There is one small wrinkle in the write-up around France's changes. The body of the team news adds up to six, not seven, when the retained players are counted against the semifinal side. That is the number that fits the lineup named for Saturday evening, and it leaves France's final World Cup appearance shaped by a deliberate rotation rather than a wholesale overhaul. After the match, the squad was due to disband, with some players heading straight on vacation and others traveling to Paris.
