Bullet point summary by AI
- What if the NFL borrowed a World Cup format to add a third-place game for NFL conference losers?
- Historical NFL third-place games faced harsh criticism and logistical challenges from coaches and players.
- The idea highlights a cultural divide between global sports’ acceptance of consolation matches and American fans’ focus on winning.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has captured the minds and souls of American sports fans, but one aspect of the tournament’s format is putting a damper on things — and no, it’s not the hydration breaks. On Saturday, France and England will face off in Miami, despite losing their respective semifinal matchups. The pair must play to determine which country finishes in third place.
Similar to the Olympics, minus the podium and medals, FIFA requires a game be played so that the Top 4 finishers are ranked without subjectiveness entering the equation. Though fans of the eliminated teams — and sometimes the players themselves — aren’t keen on marching back out onto the field to compete in what’s viewed as a meaningless game.
I completely forgot Fifa have a 3rd place humiliation game at the World Cup. Why is this a thing? Absolutely nobody wants to play this.
— WolfRMFC (@WolfRMFC) July 16, 2026 The worst part about losing is the indignity of having to play in the soccer aid third place thingy
— Eugene (@eugeneh84) July 15, 2026
So, naturally, the thought process moves to what if the NFL had the losers of the NFC and AFC Championship Games play the day before the Super Bowl? It probably wouldn’t go over so well in a nation that doesn’t take too kindly to participation trophies (yet hands them out all the time).
Hypothetical NFL third place game might be received worse than the Pro Bowl Games
The league has precedent to actually revive a third place game between the losers of each conference title matchup. From 1960-69, the Playoff Bowl (aka the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl) was the official NFL third place game. It was played in Miami and raised over a million dollars for the players’ pension fund over the span of the decade it lasted.
Influential figures in the game at the time like Green Bay Packers’ head coach Vince Lombardi, whose team played in the match twice, offered blistering criticism of the match, calling it “the ‘Shit Bowl,’ a losers’ bowl for losers.” You wouldn’t be hard pressed to find modern fans who feel the same about FIFA’s version.
Considering NFL fans already dislike the Pro Bowl Games ever since the league diverted from playing a real, competitive game in Hawaii, getting two franchises to play ahead of or after the Super Bowl would just be logistically infeasible. Injured players want to begin recovery (physically and mentally) and the culture surrounding an achievement-less contest is just dire.
If such a thing still existed in the NFL, the 2025-26 version would’ve featured the Bo Nix-less Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams. With no trophy to play for, starters likely would’ve either declined to participate or the injury reports would’ve been multiple pages long.
FIFA third place match exposes stark attitude gap between U.S. & global sports
Watching Saturday’s match between France and England will display the difference between international soccer and American football (or American sports entirely). The rest of the world, despite the humiliation of losing, is willing to show up and play for pride after an elimination. In America, we follow the Ricky Bobby rule: “If you’re not first, you’re last.”
There’s little doubt fans in America will watch bonus football, especially if it’s two legit teams playing for something. But with fans already complaining about extra games (i.e. college bowl games outside the playoff) being excuses for money grabs by the league, there’s no way to have our cake and eat it too.
There needs to be a culture shift where putting on the uniform and team pride outweigh the need to play for a trophy, a title or prize money. Injury concerns are legit but dismissing competition and an opportunity to prove you’re still better than whatever challenger comes next feels like the antithesis of American exceptionalism.
Sports are supposed to be fun, right? More sports should equal more fun. Just sit down and observe Saturday’s match, then decide if there wouldn’t be an audience for a conference runners-up contest.
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