2026 World Cup: "Legendary manager" Didier Deschamps will bid farewell to France after England contest

Ahead of France's third-placed playoff with England astatine the 2026 World Cup, Sports Mole's Senior Reporter Oliver Thomas discusses Kylian Mbappe and Didier Deschamps, with the second lasting down arsenic caput manager of the Blues aft the match.

Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter: "A send-off for Deschamps"

I expect Mbappe to play, purely due to the fact that helium is inactive successful the contention for the Golden Boot. 

After winning it successful 2022, he'll person his eyes connected becoming the archetypal subordinate to triumph the Golden Boot doubly astatine a World Cup. 

Mbappe has a decent accidental of winning it - helium has an easier fixture against England than Messi has against Spain's defense. 

England person been acold from watertight defensively, and Mbappe volition fancy his chances of scoring. 

Elsewhere, if determination is rotation, you'd look astatine the likes of Rayan Cherki, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Marcus Thuram and N'Golo Kante successful midfield - players who'll beryllium hoping to gain immoderate minutes successful this match. 

Rotation is possible, but whether it'll beryllium arsenic galore arsenic eight, 9 oregon 10 changes remains to beryllium seen. 

This crippled tin enactment arsenic a send-off for Deschamps. He'll measurement down aft this World Cup, aft 14 years successful charge, and it looks similar Zinedine Zidane mightiness beryllium the antheral to instrumentality over. 

Heading into this third-place playoff, Deschamps has a beauteous bully grounds with France - 186 games successful total, winning 122 of those, with France scoring 400 goals - awesome implicit that play of time. 

He's reached 2 World Cup finals arsenic a manager, losing successful 2022 but winning successful 2018. He's 1 of lone 3 radical ever to triumph a World Cup arsenic some a subordinate and a manager, having won it arsenic a subordinate successful 1998. 

Deschamps had his critics astatine times during his tenure, but wide helium volition beryllium remembered arsenic a legendary manager who brought a batch of occurrence to French shot and to this nationalist side. 

For him personally, it's been a hard World Cup, having dealt with the emotion of the passing of his mother. 

Hopefully for him and for France, they tin extremity this tourney connected immoderate benignant of precocious with a triumph connected Saturday, adjacent if it comes against England. 

Vote successful the Sports Mole World Cup 2026 Readers’ Awards!

Cast your votes for the 2026 World Cup awards; from subordinate of the tourney and breakout star, to champion attacker and biggest disappointment.

Voting volition beryllium unfastened until 11pm UK clip connected Monday, July 20, and the winners announced connected Tuesday, July 21!