Contested by the World Cup’s beaten semifinalists, the third-place playoff is an oft-disdained feature of FIFA’s international soccer tournament. Among the many, many negative appraisals the match has attracted, it has been written off as: “a meaningless exercise”, “the worst game to play”, “unfair” and “utter stupidity”.

It may, indeed, be a questionable use of everyone’s time to demand another 90 minutes - at least - from two teams that can no longer win the World Cup.

But regardless of the value, or otherwise, of contesting no more than the bottom step on the podium, one thing is certainly true. When it comes to the action itself, the bronze-medal game has, in fact, been a pretty reliable source of entertainment.

Since it was first played in 1934, after all, the match has served up numerous World Cup classics. Take, for example, epics such as France 6-3 West Germany in 1958; France 4-2 Belgium in 1986; and Uruguay 3-2 Germany in 2010. At nearly four per game, its goal average outstrips the tournament-wide figure of just under three.

And the third-place playoff has not only been a trusty provider of goals. It has also supplied more than its fair share of the earliest goals witnessed at a World Cup.

What is the FIFA men’s World Cup’s fastest ever goal?

Of the 2,589 goals scored across the 22 men’s World Cups played since 1930, 13 have come in the opening minute of a game. And, of those quickfire efforts, two of the fastest three were scored in a third-place match.

In 2002, the fixture accounted for the very earliest goal in World Cup history, when Hakan Sukur gave Türkiye the lead after just 11 seconds against South Korea. The strike sparked a five-goal thriller that stands as a further exhibition of the third-place playoff’s knack for offering high-octane fare.

Pouncing on a defensive error by the co-hosts, Sukur slid in a low finish past keeper Lee Woon-Jae, to break a record that had stood for four decades. Previously, Czechoslovakia’s Vaclav Masek had been the World Cup’s earliest scorer; he had netted after 15 seconds in a group-stage loss to Mexico at the 1962 finals in Chile.

After Sukur’s goal had given the Turks an instant lead in Daegu, Senol Gunes’s men scored twice more through Ilhan Mansiz, to triumph 3-2 in a matchup between the 2002 tournament’s two major surprise packages.

Sixty-eight years earlier, in the very first third-place playoff, Germany’s Ernest Lehner scored what is currently the third-fastest goal at a men’s World Cup. In Die Mannschaft’s 3-2 win over Austria - another high-scoring bronze-medal game - Lehner netted after 25 seconds.

Every sub-60-second goal in men’s World Cup history:

• 1. Hakan Sukur - 11 seconds

For Türkiye vs South Korea, 2002 third-place playoff

• 2. Vaclav Masek - 15 seconds

For Czechoslovakia vs Mexico, 1962 group stage

• 3. Ernest Lehner - 25 seconds

For Germany vs Austria, 1934 third-place playoff

• 4. Bryan Robson - 28 seconds

For England vs France, 1982 group stage

• 5. Clint Dempsey - 30 seconds

For the U.S. vs Ghana, 2014 group stage

• 6. Bernard Lacombe - 31 seconds

For France vs Italy, 1978 group stage

• 7. Arne Nyberg - 35 seconds

For Sweden vs Hungary, 1938 semifinals

• 7. Emile Veinante - 35 seconds

For France vs Belgium, 1938 round of 16

• 9. Florian Albert - 50 seconds

For Hungary vs Bulgaria, 1962 group stage

• 9. Adalbert Desu - 50 seconds

For Romania vs Peru, 1930 group stage

• 9. Seung Zin Pak - 50 seconds

For North Korea vs Portugal, 1966 quarterfinals

• 12. Celso Ayala - 52 seconds

For Paraguay vs Nigeria, 1998 group stage

• 13. Mathias Jorgensen - 55 seconds

For Denmark vs Croatia, 2018 last 16

Source: FIFA.com

“It all happened so quickly”

Five years after Türkiye’s third-place finish in South Korea and Japan, Sukur retired from international soccer - having plundered a national-record 51 goals in 112 caps. However, that 11-second strike against the Koreans was the Galatasaray great’s first and only goal at a World Cup.

So all in all, while the third-place playoff definitely cannot count on the universal support of the soccerverse, it is little surprise that Sukur is one man who speaks very positively about the experience.

“Scoring in the World Cup is something very special, and I hadn’t managed to do so," the former striker, now 54, told FIFA.com. “Everyone was talking about it. It all happened so quickly. It was a feeling of relief, of great joy. I went home having scored a World Cup goal and with a medal.”

If anyone, however, thought Sukur and Co.’s 2002 exploits heralded an era of Turkish delight at the World Cup, they could think again. It was only the team’s second tournament appearance - and, until they qualified for this summer’s finals under the Italian Vincenzo Montella, the Crescent-Stars had failed to secure a third.

Twenty-four years on, Türkiye will this week play their first World Cup game since their podium-clinching win over South Korea. Drawn in Group D, with Australia, Paraguay and co-hosts the U.S., the Turks take on the Socceroos in their 2026 opener on June 13, at Vancouver’s BC Place.

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