Alan Shearer, former England captain, attacked the World Cup third-place match, describing it as pointless, ahead of the England vs France match scheduled for Saturday evening, after both teams lost in the semifinals.

Shearer said, in comments reported by the British Daily Mail: "The third-place match in the World Cup is ridiculous. FIFA talks a lot about player health and comfort, but after they are eliminated and cannot win the title, we force them to travel to Miami and play a match in temperatures of 37 or 38 degrees Celsius for third place."

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He added: "This makes no sense at all. The players should be on their way back to their countries, or already back and preparing for a holiday, instead of staying three or four extra days to play a meaningless match, whose only purpose is to generate more profits."

He continued: "They say it's a chance to finish third in the world. No, let me tell you: all the players want now is to go on holiday and get away from the tournament. They are completely exhausted, and in 20 years they won't look back and say they are proud of finishing third or fourth. This is ridiculous, whether for France or England. Everyone knows what this match hides, unfortunately, and it should be abolished."

The third-place match provides FIFA, organizers, and broadcasters with additional revenue, and the winning team receives $2 million more than the fourth-place team ($29 million compared to $27 million).

This was not the first time Shearer criticized the match; he previously described the Belgium vs England third-place match in the 2018 World Cup as "absolute ridiculousness," according to French network RMC.