Why France won't play in third-place play-off match at Euro 2024 after defeat to Spain

Why France won’t play in third-place play-off match at Euro 2024 after defeat to Spain

France were knocked out at the semi-final stage after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Spain

France will not be involved in a third-place play-off at Euro 2024 after they were knocked out at the semi-final stage by Spain.

Luis de la Fuente’s side remain unbeaten after first-half goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo sealed their place in the final, where they will take on either England or the Netherlands.

La Roja beat Croatia, Italy and Albania in the group stage before seeing off Georgia, Germany and France.

France, meanwhile, will be hugely disappointed by their latest European Championship campaign after scoring just four times in five games [two own-goals, a Kylian Mbappe penalty and Tuesday’s effort from Kolo Muani].

This is the end of the competition for Didier Deschamps’ side, who will not take part in a third-place play-off like the FIFA World Cup.

Back in 2022, Morocco took on Croatia for the third spot after they lost against Argentina and France respectively in the semi-final stage.

However, there hasn’t been a third-place play-off match since Euro 1980, which was held in Italy.

The hosts were involved in the last third-place play-off match as they lost 9-8 against Czechoslovakia on penalties after drawing the match 1-1.

Although Italy were playing, the interest in the game was low and TV audiences were down. In fact, the attendance inside the stadium was also below expectations.

Since then, there have been 10 European Championships without a third-place play-off match.

Image credit: Getty

Ahead of Tuesday’s game, France boss Didier Deschamps responded to accusations that his team are played “boring” football at Euro 2024.

“If you’re getting bored, you know what? Watch another game, that’s fine. You don’t have to watch, it’s fine. It’s a European Championship, it’s very difficult for everyone.

“Up until now, it has not been the same as in the past, but we do have the capability to share emotions, to make lots of French men and women happy though the results that we’ve been pulling out of the bag, especially in a period that has been quite difficult for our country.

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“But I’m sorry if the Swedish are getting bored of our football. It doesn’t really bother me that much.”