England defeated France 6–4 in a dramatic and high-scoring third-place playoff at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Miami on Saturday, in a match packed with goals, records, and attacking brilliance.
Despite the entertaining spectacle, both teams leave the tournament with mixed emotions after falling short in the semi-finals—England losing to Argentina, while France were beaten by Spain.
Bukayo Saka was the standout performer, scoring a hat-trick, while Jude Bellingham made history as the first English player to score seven goals in a single World Cup tournament. However, the night also belonged to France’s Kylian Mbappé, who became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history, taking his tally to 22 goals.
England made a blistering start to the game. Declan Rice opened the scoring in just the third minute with a long-range effort, before Ezri Konsa doubled the lead with a header. Saka then extended the advantage to 3–0 following a quick counterattack and added his second just before half-time to put England firmly in control.
France struggled in the first half, with head coach Didier Deschamps later describing his team’s performance as “catastrophic.” In response, he made several changes at the start of the second half, introducing Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola.
The substitutions sparked an immediate turnaround. Mbappé pulled one back to register his ninth goal of the tournament, moving ahead in the Golden Boot race. Barcola soon added another, and Mbappé struck again—finishing from a Michael Olise assist—to set a new World Cup scoring record.
With momentum shifting, France pressed forward but missed several chances to close the gap further. England regained control when Malo Gusto conceded a penalty after bringing down Djed Spence. Saka stepped up confidently to complete his hat-trick from the spot.
Dembélé added a fourth goal for France late on, but Bellingham sealed the result with a composed solo effort, bringing the total to 10 goals in a pulsating encounter.
Speaking after the match, Saka described the victory as “amazing” but acknowledged the disappointment of missing out on the final.
“When you lose, there’s always going to be noise, and when you win, there’s going to be noise,” he said. “It’s about how you respond, and today we finished strong.”
By securing third place, England recorded their best World Cup finish since winning the tournament in 1966.
France, champions in 2018 and runners-up in 2022, had entered the tournament as strong favourites but were eliminated in the semi-finals by Spain.
Attention now turns to the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where Argentina will face Spain in a highly anticipated showdown between the South American giants and the European champions.
