France 4-6 England: World Cup third place playoff in ten-goal thriller
England claimed World Cup bronze in a record-breaking ten-goal third place playoff, beating France 6-4 in Miami with Bukayo Saka scoring a hat-trick and Kylian Mbappe becoming the all-time World Cup top scorer.
19 July 2026
Result
England beat France 6-4 in the World Cup third place playoff at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Saturday, securing their best tournament finish since winning it in 1966. The ten-goal contest set a record for the most goals ever scored in a World Cup third place match, and the highest total in any World Cup fixture since 1982.
England raced to a 4-0 lead by half time. Declan Rice opened the scoring before Ezri Konsa doubled the advantage. Bukayo Saka then struck twice in quick succession, completing a devastating first half that left France looking shellshocked and Didier Deschamps, in his final match as France manager, with a mountain to climb.
Kylian Mbappe led the French response after the interval. He pulled one back three minutes into the second half and added a second in the 66th minute, a left-footed finish that took him to 22 career World Cup goals and past Lionel Messi as the all-time leading scorer in tournament history. Bradley Barcola then made it 4-3, and suddenly a match that looked settled was wide open.
England regrouped. Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot with three minutes of normal time remaining, becoming only the second England player to score three goals in a World Cup knockout match. Ousmane Dembele struck for France in stoppage time to make it 5-4, but Jude Bellingham, on as a substitute, restored the two-goal cushion to seal the bronze medal for England.
Mbappe finished the tournament with 10 goals, two clear of Messi in the Golden Boot race ahead of the final.
Pool impact
For Last Man Standing pools, England players who backed the Three Lions stay in contention and can carry their pick forward. France selections are eliminated. The result is clean and final for anyone holding France in their bracket.
Score Predictor players who called an England win collect points, though the exact scoreline of 4-6 will have tested even the boldest predictions. Anyone who had France or a draw is out for this entry.
Pre-match forecasts
Neither side wanted to be in Miami. Both had lost semi-finals three days earlier, England to Argentina in agonising late fashion and France to Spain. Thomas Tuchel named a heavily rotated England side with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham on the bench, while Deschamps fielded a strong French eleven including Mbappe in what he knew was his last team selection after 14 years in charge.
Most observers expected a more open contest than a typical knockout tie, given the third place playoff's history of high-scoring encounters and the psychological challenge of lifting a squad after semi-final heartbreak. England, having lost both previous third place matches in 1990 and 2018, were not widely tipped to dominate, but their first-half performance exceeded every pre-match expectation.
Standout stats
England scored four before the break from four different first-half scorers, with Saka netting twice in the opening 45 minutes alone. The ten goals across the full match represent the highest-scoring World Cup game since Hungary 10-1 El Salvador in 1982, and comfortably eclipse the previous third place playoff record.
Mbappe's second goal moved him to 22 World Cup goals, overtaking Messi's 21 and making him the tournament's all-time leading marksman at the age of 27. His 10 goals in this World Cup also established a new benchmark for a single edition of the tournament since the expansion to 48 teams.
Saka's hat-trick was the first by an England player in a World Cup knockout match since Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final.
What comes next
England's tournament ends with a bronze medal and their best World Cup performance in 60 years. Tuchel now faces Spain at Wembley in September, a fixture that will shape the mood heading into the European Championship qualifying campaign. France bid farewell to Deschamps and turn their attention to the next cycle under new leadership, with the core of a squad that reached back-to-back World Cup finals in 2018 and 2022 still largely intact.
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