Why England will not receive FIFA prize Three Lions were awarded for reaching World Cup semi-final in 1990

England are not guaranteed to receive a prize from FIFA even though they are confirmed to have two more games after reaching the World Cup semi-finals.

The Three Lions have reached the final four for the fourth time in the 96-year history of the World Cup and will take on Argentina in a mouthwatering fixture in Atlanta on Wednesday.

England and Argentina renew their rivalry for the first time since a 2005 friendly, bringing back World Cup memories of classic contests in 1986 and 1998.

Following a hard-fought win over Norway in Miami, England are guaranteed to play an extra game even if they lose to Argentina.

As they did in 2018 when they fell to a 2-1 loss to Croatia, England will participate in a third place play-off.

Eight years ago, Gareth Southgate's side lost 2-0 to Belgium in Saint Petersburg and therefore finished fourth in the tournament as a result.

READ MORE: Argentina make special request to FIFA days before England game with final decision expected on Tuesday

They also came fourth in the 1990 showpiece following an agonising penalty shoot-out loss to Germany and a 2-1 defeat to Italy in the third place play-off at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari.

However, on that occasion England actually ended up being presented with a medal for coming fourth.

England players received medals for coming fourth in 1990. Image: Getty

Two nations received medals for finishing fourth at the World Cup

Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker and the rest of the squad were given identical bronze medals handed to Italy, with both sides lining up on the podium for a picture opportunity.

Fourth place medals are a rarity in the World Cup and sport on the whole, but England are not the only nation to receive them.

In 2002, South Korea's fairytale run to the World Cup semi-finals was recognised by FIFA.

Co-hosts with Japan, South Korea beat Italy and Spain on their way to making the final four before succumbing to a narrow loss to Germany.

They also lost 3-2 to Turkey in the third place play-off but receive medals in the post-match ceremony.

Since then only the teams that came first, second and third will be presented with medals. There was no fourth place medals in 2018 when England were losing semi-finalists and it appears there will not be another rare exception.

When approached for comment, a spokesperson for FIFA referred to Article 45.8 of the competition regulations, which states: "Medals will be presented to each of the top three teams in the final competition, i.e. gold medals to the winners, silver medals to the runners‑up and bronze medals to the team ranked third."

A third place play-off, or bronze medal match, was first introduced back in 1934 in the second edition of the World Cup when Germany beat Austria 3-2.

For the first ever World Cup, the United States and Yugoslavia were ranked on their overall performance as third and fourth place was decided with a different approach.

The play-off has been at every single World Cup since 1954, with Germany holding the record for the most third place finishes.

This year's will take place on 18 July in Miami and for any team eliminated, it serves as an opportunity for their big-hitters to add to their goalscoring tally.