England hurting ahead of playoff

England defender Kyle Walker is finding meaning in the game noone wants to play.

The third-place playoff at the World Cup is often dismissed as a pointless way for Fifa to fill TV space with two teams who just want to go home. But for Walker, a bronze medal still has value.

‘‘It’s still something massively to play for, to be the third-best team in the world,’’ Walker said after England’s semifinal loss to Croatia. ‘‘Who would have thought it, at the start of the tournament when everyone was writing us off?

‘‘We’ve still got a very important job come Saturday to go and beat the Belgians and get the bragging rights over them because they beat us in the group stage,’’ Walker said.

England and Belgium have both produced last-gasp victories at this year’s World Cup – Belgium beating Japan 3-2, England beating Colombia on penalties – but their two games together lack significance. Both had already qualified for the round of 16 when Belgium beat England 1-0 in the last game of the group stage on Adnan Januzaj’s curling shot in a game likened to a friendly thanks to 17 lineup changes.

Much of the talk was about whether finishing first or second in Group G would open up easier games. In the end, it meant little as both advanced to the semifinals.

Not everyone seems as enthusiastic as Walker.

Harry Kane, the leading scorer at the World Cup with six goals, said he wasn’t motivated by the chance to secure the Golden Boot for top scorer in the third-place game.

‘‘It’s not something I’m really thinking about,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not the game we wanted to be in, as a team. It is what it is, but we’ll try and play that game with as much pride as a team as try and finish on a high. We’re still going to be hurting.’’

Even if the result is quickly forgotten by the fans, it will be remembered in English Premier League locker rooms. Five EPL clubs have players on both sides of the game. Walker can face Manchester City team-mates Vincent Kompany and Kevin de Bruyne, while Tottenham boast three players for Belgium and five for England.

Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea are the other three clubs represented in both squads.

A third-place game can still be exciting. Germany overturned a 2-1 deficit to beat Uruguay 3-2 in the 2010 game as Diego Forlan sent a free kick off the crossbar in the last minute.