England secured third place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after beating France 6-4 in one of the most remarkable matches in tournament history. Despite the defeat, Kylian Mbappe made history by becoming the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer.
England looked set for a comfortable victory after storming into a 4-0 lead by half-time.
Declan Rice opened the scoring with a stunning strike before Ezri Konsa doubled the advantage with a header. Bukayo Saka then scored twice to leave France in shock at the break.
The second half, however, turned into a goal fest.
Mbappe pulled one back with his 21st World Cup goal before adding another to move onto 22 career World Cup goals. The France captain overtook Lionel Messi to become the competition’s all-time top scorer. His brace also took him to 10 goals in the tournament, putting him alone at the top of the Golden Boot race.
Michael Olise played a huge role in France’s comeback. He assisted both of Mbappe’s goals to take his tally to seven assists at the tournament, breaking Pele’s long-standing record for the most assists at a single World Cup.
France kept pushing and Ousmane Dembele scored deep into stoppage time to make it 5-4 after England had restored a two-goal cushion.
Before that, England had regained control through Saka. After Malo Gusto brought down Djed Spence inside the penalty area, Saka calmly converted the spot kick to complete his hat-trick. Jude Bellingham handed him the ball despite being a penalty option himself.
With France throwing everyone forward in search of an equaliser, Bellingham produced the final moment of magic. The midfielder burst forward on a brilliant solo run, dribbled past several defenders and calmly finished past Mike Maignan to make it 6-4 in the closing seconds.
Dembele’s late strike had briefly given France hope, but Bellingham’s goal sealed England’s victory in a match that became the highest-scoring game of the 2026 World Cup.
The win gave England their best World Cup finish since lifting the trophy in 1966.
France finished fourth, but Mbappe left the tournament with another historic milestone. His record-breaking goals and Golden Boot lead were not enough to earn Didier Deschamps’ side a place on the podium after a chaotic and unforgettable contest in Miami.
