The Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens witnessed an unforgettable 10-goal thriller as England defeated France 6-4 in the World Cup third-place match on Saturday. It was the highest-scoring game in a third-place final in World Cup history and the most goals in any World Cup match since Hungary's 10-1 win over El Salvador in 1982.
Bukayo Saka was the star of the show, scoring a hat trick (37', 45+1', 87' penalty) to lead England to third place — their best finish since winning the tournament in 1966. Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa had given England a commanding 4-0 halftime lead, but France mounted a fierce second-half comeback through Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé, and a brilliant double from Kylian Mbappé.
Mbappé's two goals took his career World Cup tally to 22, surpassing Lionel Messi (21) as the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history. He also leads the Golden Boot race with 10 goals in this tournament, two ahead of Messi.
Jude Bellingham sealed the win in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time, his seventh goal of the tournament — the most by an England player in a single World Cup, surpassing Harry Kane (six in 2018 and 2026) and Gary Lineker (six in 1986).
The match marked the end of an era for France, as it was Didier Deschamps' final game as head coach after 14 years in charge. Deschamps embraced his players and waved to the crowd as he left the pitch. "We were not expecting such a first half," he said through an interpreter. "And we did better in the second half. We were deeply disappointed, gutted after the semis. I don't want to sum up my career on this moment."
England coach Thomas Tuchel reflected on the result: "I hope that the players can be proud of that in some time. We are fiercely competitive, so we almost don't allow ourselves to be proud of third place because 18 months ago we set the highest goal." He added that the game would help close the gap with teams like Argentina and France.
With 22 career World Cup goals, Mbappé now watches Sunday's final between Argentina and Spain, knowing Messi has one last chance to match or surpass him. "Leo scores all the time," Mbappé told Fox Sports. "Tomorrow he will score for sure. I would have preferred not to be the top scorer in history and play in the match tomorrow."
In front of a sellout crowd of 64,478, the third-place game delivered a spectacle that proved even a consolation match can produce unforgettable drama.
Sources
- https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-england-france-third-place-score-52f94eda6ff6d268d38aaefbc446c525
