England edge France 6-4 in chaotic World Cup bronze match
By finishing third, England secured their best result at a World Cup since winning the tournament in 1966.
England’s Jude Bellingham celebrates scoring their sixth goal with Jordan Henderson. (Photo: Reuters/Marco Bello)
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England beat France 6-4 in a chaotic World Cup third-place playoff on Saturday (Jul 18) as Kylian Mbappe became the highest scorer in the tournament’s history.
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.
But despite the entertainment, both sides will go home disappointed after their title hopes disappeared at the semi-final stage.
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”.
“When you lose there’s always going to be noise, when you win there’s going to be noise,” Saka said.
“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.”
Both coaches made multiple changes for the match in the oppressive heat of Miami, with a host of stars on the bench.
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.
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.
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.
He made multiple substitutions at the start of the second half, bringing on Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola.
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.
The game had now totally changed complexion and Barcola pulled another goal back.
Mbappe then netted his second of the game to become the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with 22 goals – slotting home from Olise’s pass.
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.
Substitute Bellingham handed Saka the ball and he stepped up to the spot and converted to complete his hat-trick.
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.
By finishing third, England secured their best result at a World Cup since winning the tournament in 1966, though they will carry bitter memories of their defeat by defending champions Argentina.
Deschamps led France to World Cup glory in 2018 and finished as runners-up four years ago.
Les Bleus were favourites to win the 2026 tournament after a sensational start but were well beaten 2-0 by Spain in the semi-finals.
Three-time champions Argentina face European champions Spain in the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday.
Source: AFP/zl
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