Is the 3rd place play-off the most pointless game in all of football?

Abertawe

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Imagine the heartbreak of losing a world cup semi final and having to play another game. I'd just sack it off and go home tbh.
 

Stevencc

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Absolutely pointless, I agree.
 

valefan16

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It is but I want England to go for it if we lose tomorrow purely to be the best performance ever at a World Cup not on English soil.
 

Leo

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I enjoy them simply for it being another game to watch....mind you it might bore the tits off ye. Don't know if it has owt to do with the team's ranking.
 

Dirk

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Yes, it's maybe pointless.

But on the other side, it's another chance to leave the World Cup with a win.
And often these matches for third place are fun to watch because the teams often play without the pressure they had in the semi-finals (and the pressure they will have in the final).
Losing a semi-final is heartbreakening for the players. Germany played in 2 of the last 3 of these "little finals". In 2006, in our own World Cup, we lost (as usual) against Italy in a semi-final in dramatic fashion (as usual, again) but the team wanted to exit the World Cup on a high and showed a very good performance against Portugal and won 3-1. The same 4 years later. We lost 0-1 in the semis against Spain but again we played a very interesting 3rd place final against another motivated team, Uruguay, and won 3-2 and this match was way more entertaining than the boring 1-0 Spain win in the final against the Netherlands who played their most brutal football I've seen from them for decades.

So, yes, the 3rd place doesn't give so much reputation like a World Cup title but it often gives interesting matches and you can leave the World Cup on a high with a win. I was always proud when Germany won the 3rd place. Losing a World Cup Final is much worse for me ;)
 
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Renegade

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Don't think I've watched one since Croatia in '98.
 

Liam_SWFC

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If we lose we should just forfeit it.
 

Liam_SWFC

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You think Liam....really? Never ever imo mate.

More from a selfish point of view Leo, as the pain of losing the semi would make watching a 3rd place play off feel so empty!
 

Leo

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More from a selfish point of view Leo, as the pain of losing the semi would make watching a 3rd place play off feel so empty!
Understand mate.....but would you not be proud if it did come to that and England had the chance to be named 3rd best in this WC ? Obviously a personal choice.
 

Liam_SWFC

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Understand mate.....but would you not be proud if it did come to that and England had the chance to be named 3rd best in this WC ? Obviously a personal choice.

Yeah once the disappointment faded I'd certainly be very proud of it, would rather lose a final though!
 
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JJ1532

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WHilst I hope it doesn't happen, I do think it would be slightly funny if England lost tonight and then us and Belgium put our reserves out again for the rematch of the B teams.
 

TomPNE94

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Fuck this game off, battle of the losers. Anything less than first place is a loss.
 

Super_horns

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You just know somebody key is going to get injured and their club manager will go mad!
 

Bobbin'

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Couldn’t think of anything worse for a player.

Lose a World Cup semi-final, you just want to go home. Why would you want to hang around for another few days to play some pointless game to see who will be 2nd highest loser.
 

Fedora Dale

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Most pointless game ever was probably 20-odd years ago in the Check-What-Its-Called this year trophy. First round was groups of 3, with one qualifying for the next round. I think it was Aldershot and Torquay who'd both lost to the third team in the group (who might have been Swansea), rendering the match between the two a dead rubber. Sensibly, they didn't bother playing it for some months, with the match taking place in front of a couple of hundred fans just before the final (probably someone at the FL noticed the missing result and issued an "oi lads, get on with it" order).
 

Super_horns

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Couldn’t think of anything worse for a player.

Lose a World Cup semi-final, you just want to go home. Why would you want to hang around for another few days to play some pointless game to see who will be 2nd highest loser.

And you know if we lose the game our media will probably get on their backs for losing 2 games in a row..
 

G.B

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They're generally entertaining, open games with no 3rd place playoff having fewer than 3 goals since 1974. Quite a few of them have been high scoring affairs. Of course, this is a result of the game being utterly pointless and neither side really giving a fuck about the result.
 

T.A

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It's a friendly inside a world cup.
 

SMH

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I wouldn’t be surprised if Lukaku is up for it. He’ll be eyeing up that golden boot with Kane probably injured/rested. Needs two goals.
 

FishyMackem

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Do we get a medal or anything if we win? Can't be arsed to research.
 

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