England beat France 6-4 in World Cup third-place playoff

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England’s defender #02 Ezri Konsa and France’s forward #10 Kylian Mbappe fight for the ball during the 2026 World Cup football tournament third-place match between France and England at the Miami Stadium in Miami on July 18, 2026. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)

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England beat France 6-4 in a chaotic World Cup third-place playoff on Saturday as Kylian Mbappe became the leading scorer in World Cup history.

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Bukayo Saka grabbed a hat-trick and Jude Bellingham became the first English player to score seven goals at a single World Cup in a breathless match.

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But despite the entertainment, both sides will go home disappointed after their title hopes disappeared at the semi-final stage.

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France were outplayed by Spain while England suffered a late collapse against Argentina.

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Arsenal forward Saka said beating Didier Deschamps’ France was an “amazing” result but admitted the defeat to Argentina “hurt a lot”.

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“When you lose there’s always going to be noise, when you win there’s going to be noise,” Saka said.

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“It’s how you react to it, how you use it as fuel and today we finished strong so that’s all we could really do and we’ve done it.”

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Both coaches made multiple changes for the match in the oppressive heat of Miami, with a host of stars on the bench.

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Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice put England ahead with a goal from distance in the third minute and Ezri Konsa headed home to make it 2-0.

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The game threatened to become embarrassing for France when Saka made it 3-0 after a swift break and the Arsenal man scored again in first-half stoppage time.

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Deschamps, taking charge of France for the final time, told French TV channel M6 that the first-half display had been “catastrophic”, urging his men to show pride.

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He made multiple substitutions at the start of the second half, bringing on Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola.

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He was rewarded almost instantly when Mbappe scored his ninth goal of the tournament to move clear of Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot standings.

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The game had now totally changed complexion and Barcola pulled another goal back.

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Mbappe then netted his second of the game to become the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with 22 goals — slotting home from Michael Olise’s pass.

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France squandered a number of opportunities and England were handed a chance to extend their lead when Malo Gusto brought down Djed Spence in the penalty area.

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Substitute Bellingham handed Saka the ball and he stepped up to the spot and converted to complete his hat-trick.

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There was still time for Dembele to grab a fourth for France but Bellingham then strode forward to score the 10th goal of the match with a fine individual effort.

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By finishing third, England secured their best result at a World Cup since winning the tournament in 1966.

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Deschamps led France to World Cup glory in 2018 and finished as runners-up four years ago.

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Les Bleus were favourites to win the 2026 tournament after a sensational start but were beaten 2-0 by Spain in the semi-finals.

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Three-time champions Argentina face European champions Spain in the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday.

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