MIAMI — England secured third place at the World Cup with a wild 6-4 victory over France in Miami on Saturday, marking the team’s finest finish at the tournament since they lifted the trophy back in 1966.
The match was a defensive nightmare for both sides, with France storming back from a 4-0 deficit to threaten a stunning equalizer before England ultimately held on for the win.
Kylian Mbappe found the net twice in the second half, pushing his total for the tournament to 10 goals and making him the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with 22 goals — surpassing Lionel Messi in the process. His tally also put him two goals ahead of Messi in the race for the tournament’s top scorer award, the Golden Boot.
Bukayo Saka was the standout performer for England, completing a hat-trick from the penalty spot with just three minutes remaining to make it 5-3 and ease the nerves on the England bench. Saka had already scored twice in the first half, with Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa having given England an ideal start.
Ousmane Dembele pulled one back late to give France a glimmer of hope, but substitute Jude Bellingham put the result beyond doubt deep in stoppage time, netting his seventh goal of the tournament to seal the 6-4 final score.
The 10-goal total set a new record for a World Cup third-place match, surpassing France’s 6-3 win over West Germany at the 1958 tournament.
France had hoped to give coach Didier Deschamps — the 2018 World Cup-winning manager in his final game in charge — a farewell victory. Instead, they found themselves chasing the game after a dominant England opening. A Bradley Barcola goal, sandwiched between Mbappe’s two strikes, had cut the gap to 4-3 by the 66th minute, but England’s lead proved too much to overcome.
England manager Thomas Tuchel appeared to respond to criticism of his team’s passive play in their semifinal loss, with his side pressing forward aggressively from the opening whistle. Declan Rice set the tone by charging forward and hammering in a goal as early as the third minute — even without Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane in the starting lineup.
The victory also gave England their first-ever third-place finish, having lost previous third-place playoffs in both 1990 and 2018.
Meanwhile, 39-year-old Messi will have one final opportunity to add to his own goal tally on Sunday when Argentina face Spain in the World Cup final at New York New Jersey Stadium.
