England will face France in the World Cup third-place match Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida with free watch parties set throughout Los Angeles County.
England lost to Argentina, 2-1, in a semifinal Wednesday in Atlanta, allowing goals in the 85th minute and two minutes into second-half stoppage time after taking a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute on Anthony Gordon’s goal.
France lost to Spain, 2-0, Tuesday in a semifinal in Arlington, Texas.
French forward Kylian Mbappé shares the tournament goal-scoring lead with Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Both have eight.
English teammates Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are tied for fourth with six goals each.
The Three Lions’ roster consists of 21 players who play on club teams in England, two each on teams in Germany and Spain and one in Saudi Arabia.
Les Bleus’ roster consists of eight players who play in France, seven in England, four in Italy, three in Spain, two in Germany and one each in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Club teammates that will be playing on opposite sides Saturday include Mbappé and Bellingham, who are teammates with Real Madrid of Spain’s La Liga and Kane and French forward Michael Olise and defender Dayot Upamecano, teammates with Bayern Munich of Germany’s Bundesliga.
France is third in the unofficial rankings released after the completion of Wednesday’s play by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. England is ranked fourth. The ranking is considered unofficial until all matches are approved as international `A’ matches. The latest official ranking was released June 11, the day the World Cup began.
The match is set to begin at 2 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. It will be televised in English by Fox and in Spanish by Telemundo.
Free watch parties will be held at Seoul International Park in Koreatown, Whitsett Fields in North Hollywood, the Hansen Dam Pool in Lake View Terrace, and the Los Angeles Central Library’s Taper Auditorium as part of the Kick It In the Park program organized by various city of Los Angeles departments.
Attendance is limited to 1,000 people at a time. Alcohol sale, possession and consumption is not permitted. Attendees are advised by organizers to bring blankets, chairs, snacks and reusable water bottles.
More information is available at kickit.lacity.gov.
Free watch parties will also be held at the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles, Artsakh Paseo in Glendale, south of the Hermosa Beach Pier, the Ovation Hollywood shopping center, Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey, Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and the Hammer Museum in Westwood.
The free watch party organized by Angel City Football Club at the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace in Playa Vista from 1:30 to 6 p.m. will include puppy adoptions and a pet parade, penalty kicks against Omaha the Bat Dog and a watch party for ACFC’s National Women’s Soccer League match against the Chicago Stars.
Several watch parties are also scheduled for Sunday’s World Cup final pitting Spain and Argentina, which will take place at noon Pacific Daylight Time in East Rutherford, New Jersey.