Declan Rice has been at the center of things as England came out all guns blazing against France and took an early 2-0 lead in the FIFA World Cup third-place play-off in Los Angeles. Rice scored in the third minute and then delivered an aerial ball with pin-point accuracy for Ezri Konsa to score in the 18th minute. France didn’t change their line-up much with Kylian Mbappe clearly looking to score some goals to boost his chances of securing the Golden Boot. England, on the other hand, have made as many as seven changes, including star names Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
Both France and England didn’t want to be here when the World Cup started. But the two star teams, favorites for the title, now find themselves playing in the third-place match in Miami, occasionally stealing a glance at the summit clash between Argentina and Spain at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
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France vs England Football Updates
France captain Kylian Mbappé is one of many elite footballers with immigrant roots representing their adopted nations. (Photo credit: Reuters)
What It Takes to Make a Football Team: An Immigrant Story
A makeshift tent on the edge of a playground at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a sprawling public park in the borough of Queens, New York, is blasting Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny’s Latino chartbuster DTMF.
A few teenagers tap their feet to their tunes, their eyes fixed on the football game in the middle. A volley from 20 yards hits the crossbar and coach Vincent Córdoba, a stern-looking older Colombian man with small, sharp eyes, hurls a water bottle to the ground in anger. He shouts insults in Spanish and instructs his players to tighten their defenses and fall back in numbers.
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