England beat France 6-4 in frantic FIFA World Cup bronze medal match

4 min readUpdated: Jul 19, 2026 05:47 AM IST

England's Bukayo Saka (7) celebrates scoring his side's 5th goal from the penalty spot during the World Cup third-place playoff soccer match between France and England in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

It may have been the match that no one wants to play but England and France ended up making an exhibition out of it in Miami. England came out on top, sealing their best finish at a World Cup since 1966 as they beat France in a frantic 10-goal thriller of a bronze medal match in which both sides seemed set to humiliate the other at some stage of the match. England had sped off to a 4-0 lead in the first half, with Bukayo Saka scoring twice. France then hit back by scoring three in the early stages of the second half, two of which was scored by Kylian Mbappe which took him past Lionel Messi in the list of most prolific goalscorers in the history of the World Cup.

It was the highest-scoring World Cup game since Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982, and the 10 goals were the most in a third-place match.

AS IT HAPPENED | France vs England, FIFA World Cup 2026 bronze medal match

The goal fest started as early as in the third minute with Declan Rice first intercepting the ball from a loose pass and then slamming it home with the French defence sleeping. Rice then turned provider in the 18th minute when Ezri Konsa headed in an aerial ball provided by him.  Saka’s brace then helped England finish the first half leading 4-0. The Arsenal forward, who had been struggling with injuries throughout the World Cup, scored in the 37th minute and in first-half stoppage time.

France’s Kylian Mbappe (10) celebrates scoring his side’s third goal as England’s Jarell Quansah (26) reacts to the score during the World Cup third-place playoff soccer match between France and England in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Thomas Tuchel had come under fire for England’s tactics in the second half in the semifinal against Argentina, particularly after England took the lead. France looked set to make that second half look like the lesser evil as they flicked a switch at half time and came out all guns blazing in the second half.

Mbappe scored just three minutes into the second half, which helped him take the lead in the race for the Golden Boot. It was his ninth goal of the tournament, he had been tied with Argentina talisman Lionel Messi on eight going into this match. Bradley Barcola then scored France’s second on the 54th minute and about 12 minutes later, Mbappe scored his second of the day. That took him past Messi on the list of highest goalscorers of all time in the history of the World Cup, this being the Frenchman’s 22nd goal in just 22 matches in the tournament.

It has to be noted that Messi could still overtake Mbappe on both counts, with Argentina set to face Spain in final on Sunday looking to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to succesfully defend their World Cup title.

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England thus saw their four goal lead cut down to just one by the 66th minute of the match. Jude Bellingham then handed the ball to Saka in the 87th minute when England were awarded a penalty and the latter converted it with aplomb to become just the fourth player from his country to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match.

However, there were still more goals to come. Ousmane Dembele scored in the sixth minute of added time to cut England’s lead down to one again before Bellingham restored the two-goal lead by skipping and weaving past France defenders and scoring his seventh goal of the tournament. It is the most goals scored by an Englishman in a single edition of the World Cup.