The 2026 FIFA World Cup‘s third-place play-off was a 10-goal thriller headlined by Bukayo Saka and Kylian Mbappé, with England coming out on top.
Bukayo Saka‘s hat-trick helped England seal their best World Cup finish since 1966, beating France 6-4 in a breathless third-place play-off that also saw Kylian Mbappé become the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Thomas Tuchel was booed by some England fans prior to kick-off, amid fierce criticism of his defensive tactics during Wednesday’s semi-final defeat to Argentina.
But the Three Lions certainly did not sit back in Miami, even with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham dropping to the bench. Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa struck to put them 2-0 up after 18 minutes, before Saka added two more goals late in the first half.
France came storming back after the interval, though, with Mbappé overtaking Lionel Messi – at least temporarily – as the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer with his two goals, which came either side of a powerful finish from substitute Bradley Barcola.
Saka’s 87th-minute penalty pulled England clear again, and even though Ousmane Dembélé reintroduced some nerves in stoppage time, substitute Bellingham scored the clinching goal to ensure a losing end to Didier Deschamps’s 14-year France reign.
The scoring started as early as the third minute, with Rice picking off a terrible pass from Désiré Doué before raiding forward and drilling into the far corner from range.
Rayan Cherki saw an effort swatted away by England’s stand-in goalkeeper Dean Henderson, but Les Bleus continued to look ragged at the other end, and they were saved by the offside flag when Saka finished neatly across goal.
A near-identical move saw another Saka shot deflect behind, but England kept the pressure on and from the resulting corner, Rice’s delivery was glanced into the far corner by Konsa.
And there was still more to come from the Three Lions. France’s defence was all at sea for the third goal in the 37th minute, with Marcus Rashford inexplicably allowed to run clean through on goal from inside his own half. Rashford was initially thwarted by Mike Maignan, but he recovered to turn provider for Saka.
And Saka applied another pinpoint finish into the bottom-right corner in stoppage time, after Eberechi Eze’s through-ball split the France backline straight down the middle.
Deschamps reacted by making four half-time substitutions, though Mbappé stayed on and moved level with Messi in the all-time World Cup goal charts – and ahead in the 2026 Golden Boot race – when he finished left-footed in the 48th minute.
France had hope of a comeback when Barcola slammed home at the near post six minutes later, and another fine link-up between Michael Olise and Mbappé led to the latter’s record-breaking 22nd World Cup goal in the 66th minute. It was also Olise’s seventh assist of the tournament, making him the player with the most assists at a single edition of the World Cup on record (since 1966).
Olise wasted two glaring chances to equalise for France, the second being a particularly poor finish from near the penalty spot, before Djed Spence capped his breakout tournament by darting forward to be fouled by Malo Gusto, allowing Saka to slot home from the spot.
Dembele’s cultured, left-footed finish gave France hope of one last push to force extra time, but a gutsy solo effort from Bellingham capped an incredible contest and made the bronze medal safe for England.
Mbappé Overtakes Messi, but Saka Outdoes France Superstar
Tuchel’s ill-fated move to a back five after England took the lead against Argentina has been dissected at length, though the German has since said he does not regret that decision – a comment that clearly irked some of those in attendance in Florida.
And even with Tuchel making seven changes to his starting lineup, the Three Lions took out their frustrations on a lacklustre France side throughout the first half.
Rice got the rout started with a goal and an assist, becoming the sixth England player to do both in a World Cup game and the third to do so in 2026, after Bellingham versus Panama and Harry Kane against Mexico.
No team has ever avoided defeat after trailing by four goals in a World Cup match, though France threatened to do exactly that when they came roaring back in the second half.
Mbappé’s brace took him one goal clear of Messi in the all-time World Cup charts (22 to 21) and two clear for this tournament (10 to eight) ahead of Argentina’s final meeting with Spain. He is the first player to reach double figures at a single edition since West Germany’s Gerd Muller in 1970.
Many might have expected the France captain to leave with the match ball at that point, but that honour went to Saka – only the second England player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup knockout-stage match, after Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final.
There was also a piece of history for Bellingham, who became England’s highest scorer at a single World Cup or Euros (seven goals) and finally killed off a manic contest.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the France vs England stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup third/fourth place play-off at Miami Stadium on Saturday 18 July.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
France 4-6 England: Post-Match Opta Facts
This was the first FIFA World Cup game to see 10 or more goals scored since Hungary 10-1 El Salvador in 1982 and the first knockout stage match since Austria 7-5 Switzerland in 1954.
Bukayo Saka is the second England player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup knockout stage match after Sir Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final. The only other player to score a treble vs France in the competition is Brazil’s Pelé in 1958.
England scored four first half goals in a FIFA World Cup knockout stage match for the first time, and for the second time overall after the 2018 group stage vs Panama (led 5-0).
France conceded six goals in a FIFA World Cup match for the very first time and they trailed by four goals at half-time of any match for the first time since April 1930 (1-5 vs Belgium).
England have achieved their second-best finish at the FIFA World Cup (3rd place), behind their 1966 success on home soil.
At the 11th attempt, England have won a FIFA World Cup game against an opponent ranked higher than them in the FIFA World Rankings for only the second time, previously beating Argentina 1-0 in 2002 (D1 L8).
This was Didier Deschamps’ 187th and final game in charge of France and the most goals his side have conceded in a match under him. It is the first time France have conceded six times in a match overall since 1960 (2-6 vs Switzerland).
Jude Bellingham’s seven goals are the outright most ever by an England player at a single FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship tournament.
France 4-6 England is the game at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with the most shots on target (20) and the highest combined xG tally (5.7); 20 shots on target is the most at the tournament since Belgium vs USA in 2014 (22).
With two goals and an assist against England, Kylian Mbappé has now recorded the most goal involvements on record (since 1966) at a single FIFA World Cup tournament (14 – 10 goals, 4 assists).
France’s Michael Olise is the first player on record (since 1966) to record seven assists in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup.
Michael Olise has provided five assists to Kylian Mbappé at the 2026 FIFA World Cup – it is the most assists one player has provided for a teammate on record (since 1966) at a single edition of the tournament.
Declan Rice’s opener was England’s second earliest goal in a FIFA World Cup game (2:14), behind only Bryan Robson’s goal against France after 28 seconds in 1982.
This was England’s first major tournament game (World Cup/EURO) without Jordan Pickford starting in goal since EURO 2016 vs Iceland (Joe Hart); it ended a Three Lions’ record for the most consecutive starts made by a player at those competitions (33 in a row).
England started three Arsenal players in a FIFA World Cup game (Rice, Saka, Eze) for the first time since 2002 against Brazil (Seaman, Campbell, Cole).
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