FIFA won’t ditch play-off

FIFA claim the third-place play-off is more about the contest than commercial benefits, despite UEFA ditching the extra game decades ago.

The European Championship last dished out a bronze medal in 1980, with UEFA feeling the beaten semi-finalists would rather go home than stay for a meaningless contest.

FIFA say the bronze-medal game is already cast in stone for Qatar 2022 and complex stake-holder discussions would have to start with the competitions committee if there is going to be any change for Usa-Mexico-Canada in 2026.

However, England’s presence today will give ITV another bumper TV audience, likely to be over 10million, having made the game their 30th pick — not in the expectation of England being there but the benefit of a saturday late afternoon slot.

Football League’s bumbling chief executive Shaun Harvey, who has taken two FA freebies to Russia in quick succession for England’s quarter-final and semi-final, found himself sitting with the England WAGs in the Luzhniki Stadium. There had been a mix-up over seats before the Croatia game due to the extra tickets needed for the likes of Harvey, who does not sit on the FA board. The hapless Harvey didn’t get into the ground until 15 minutes after kick-off and he had to move seats at half-time as well.

England have been praised for their discipline here, ignoring Colombia’s attempts to draw them into a scrap in the last-16 tie. Their focus is such that even at the height of their disappointment, the players took no notice of a pitchside Croatian TV reporter shamelessly goading them as they came through the tunnel at full time.