England secured third place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with an entertaining 6-4 victory over France on Saturday in Miami, as Kylian Mbappe became the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Bukayo Saka starred with a hat-trick, while Jude Bellingham added his name to the scoresheet to cap a remarkable 10-goal thriller. Despite the spectacle, both teams ended their campaigns with disappointment after falling short in the semi-finals.
England entered the playoff after suffering a late defeat to Argentina, while France’s hopes of lifting the trophy were ended by a 2-0 loss to Spain.
Saka admitted the win provided some consolation following England’s painful semi-final exit.
“The Argentina defeat hurt a lot, but we wanted to finish the tournament on a positive note,” the Arsenal forward said. “When you lose, there’s always criticism. The important thing is how you respond, and I think we did that today.”
England made a dream start as Declan Rice fired home from long range in the third minute before Ezri Konsa doubled the lead with a header.
Saka then struck twice before the break, including one in stoppage time, to hand England a commanding 4-0 advantage.
France coach Didier Deschamps, overseeing his final match in charge of Les Bleus, described his team’s first-half display as “catastrophic” and responded with several substitutions at the interval, introducing Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola.
The changes sparked an immediate response as Mbappe scored his ninth goal of the tournament, moving ahead of Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race. Barcola soon added a second before Mbappe netted again from Michael Olise’s assist to register his 22nd World Cup goal, setting a new all-time scoring record in the competition.
England restored their cushion after Malo Gusto fouled Djed Spence in the penalty area. Bellingham handed the spot-kick to Saka, who calmly converted to complete his hat-trick.
Dembele pulled another goal back for France, but Bellingham rounded off the scoring with a superb solo effort as England sealed an emphatic 6-4 victory.
The result gave England their best World Cup finish since lifting the trophy in 1966.
France, champions in 2018 and runners-up in 2022 under Deschamps, had entered the tournament as one of the favourites but were eliminated by Spain in the last four.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup concludes on Sunday with three-time champions Argentina taking on European champions Spain in the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
