<P> The Rugby World Cup used to give automatic qualification to all teams in the top three of the ongoing tournament to the one that would follow it four years later thus making the third place playoff game important, but this was later scrapped after the 1999 edition of the tournament allowing teams outside the top three to automatically qualify depending on their IRB co-efficient in the rankings . </P> <P> The 1980 edition was the last UEFA European Football Championship to have a third place match . That was one of the few third place football matches ever to be decided by a penalty shootout, where Czechoslovakia defeated hosts Italy 9 - 8 . </P> <P> The FIFA World Cup features a third place playoff, usually on the day before the final . It is often there to provide a spectacle as there is often a gap of a few days between the semi-finals and the final . The third place playoff is considered a lower - priority match to organizers, as it is frequently scheduled in one of the smaller stadia; the largest stadium (usually located in the host nation's capital city) is reserved for the final, while the semi-finals occupy the second and third - largest stadia . However, the third place match in the 1994 World Cup did use the Rose Bowl stadium, the same venue that would later host the tournament final, setting a record attendance of 91,500 for a third place playoff in FIFA World Cup history . </P> <P> The third - place match in the FIFA Women's World Cup has been somewhat more important to the organizers--the 1999, 2003, and 2007 matches were all held in the same stadium as the final . In fact, the 1999 and 2007 third - place matches were both held as the first half of a doubleheader that culminated in the final . The 2011 third - place match returned to the more traditional scheduling of the day before the final in a different stadium . Notably, the 1999 third - place match was the curtain - raiser to the most - attended women's sporting event in history, the 1999 final also held in the Rose Bowl . </P>

Who came in third place in world cup