England Beat France 6-4 in Wild Third-Place Thriller at World Cup 2026

England beat France 6-4 in Miami to finish third at the FIFA World Cup 2026. It was the highest-scoring match of the whole tournament, and the third-place game rarely gets talked about this much.

Declan Rice put England ahead inside three minutes. Ezri Konsa made it 2-0 in the 18th minute. France looked shaky early, but they hit back fast. Kylian Mbappe pulled one back in the 48th minute. Bradley Barcola added another six minutes later. Mbappe then grabbed his second in the 66th minute to level the score at 3-3.

England did not panic. Bukayo Saka put them back in front in the 87th minute from the penalty spot. That completed his hat-trick, after strikes in the 37th and 45+1st minutes. Jude Bellingham then made it 5-3 deep into stoppage time. France weren't done either. Ousmane Dembele scored in the 90+6th minute to keep the game alive, but Bellingham's earlier goal had already tipped it England's way, and the match finished 6-4.

Saka's hat-trick was the standout individual moment of the match. It's a rare thing for any player to manage in a World Cup game, let alone one that doesn't decide the trophy, and it capped a strong tournament for the young forward.

Both teams came into this game as disappointed sides. France had lost 2-0 to Spain in the semi-final. England had led for most of their semi-final before Argentina scored twice late to win 2-1. Neither side got the final they wanted, but this match gave fans a proper send-off from the tournament.

The stats tell their own story. England had 55% of the ball and 10 shots on target to France's 9. France actually matched England for total shots at 18 apiece, and won more corners, 4 to 3. But it was England's clinical finishing, especially from Saka and Bellingham late on, that won them third place.

The World Cup now moves to its final act. Spain play Argentina in the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with the trophy on the line.