The bronze-medal match: the two beaten semi-finalists meet at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Saturday 18 July, the day before the final, to decide who finishes third in the world. Here is why the World Cup has kept this fixture since 1934, who plays it in 2026, what is really at stake, and why the debate over scrapping it never quite goes away.
One match to decide the bronze medal, contested by the two teams that just lost in the semi-finals. The winner finishes third in the world, the loser fourth.
The third-place play-off, Match 103 in the 2026 schedule, is played on Saturday 18 July 2026 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, with a 5pm US Eastern Time kickoff. FIFA calls the venue Miami Stadium during the tournament. It is the second-to-last match of the World Cup, staged the day before the final at MetLife Stadium on 19 July.
The two teams are the losers of the semi-finals: the beaten side from Match 101 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas area on 14 July, and the beaten side from Match 102 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on 15 July. There is no second leg. Like every knockout tie it cannot end in a draw, but uniquely the third-place match skips extra time: if the score is level after 90 minutes it goes straight to a penalty shootout, to spare tired legs a day before some of these players may not, but the winners of it will, have played a final.
The closing weekend delivers the bronze-medal match on the Saturday and the World Cup final on the Sunday, back to back. Each is fed directly by the two semi-finals. Times shown are Eastern kickoff hints.
As of 8 July the semi-finalists are still to be decided: the quarter-finals run from 9 to 11 July, with France v Morocco, Spain v Belgium, Norway v England and Argentina v Switzerland feeding the two semi-finals. See how the whole bracket resolves in our path to the final, and every kickoff in your own time zone on the match schedule.
The play-off looks like a consolation, but it has survived more than 90 years because it does several jobs at once.
A third-place play-off has been held at every World Cup since 1934. Here are the winners of the last six, often high-scoring games played with the pressure of a final lifted.
Germany, counting the West Germany era, has finished third more often than any nation, a mark of sustained tournament consistency. In 2022 Croatia beat 2022 semi-finalists Morocco 2-1 to take bronze, a fitting reward for two of the tournament's overachievers. The scorelines above show why the play-off can be worth watching: with the weight of a final gone, teams tend to attack.
Follow the bracket to the bronze medal and the trophy:
Both last-four ties on 14 and 15 July: who reaches the final, who plays for bronze.
Read the preview ›The showpiece on 19 July near New York: venue, kickoff and how to get there.
Read the guide ›The Miami venue for the third-place play-off: capacity, transit and fan info.
See the venue ›How the 2026 pool is split by stage, and what third place is worth.
See the breakdown ›This editorial was written from the following schedule and reporting on the World Cup third-place play-off:
WorldCuply.com is the premium .com for 2026 World Cup content, coverage and commerce. The listing is live now, with the third-place play-off in Miami on 18 July and the final at MetLife on 19 July 2026.