Ten-Goal Third-Place Game Gives England the Win over France

By Daniel Feuerstein | Miami Gardens, FL | July 18th, 2026

Two teams came to Hard Rock Stadium to play one more game to decide who would finish third, and maybe it would be a quiet match before the big fireworks of the final when it goes to MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands of New Jersey. Usually, in a third-place game, it’s quiet and uninspiring, with two teams just wanting to get the 90 minutes over as quickly as possible. Not this one. This was a wild and wacky ten-goal explosion that no one expected to get out of hand and to give us so many joyful moments. But when the final whistle blew to end this exciting match, it was England that held on and defeated France by a final score of six goals to four.

England scored four in the first 45

England started on the front foot, while France was still feeling grumpy after their loss to Spain in the Semi-Finals. For the entire 45 minutes. England took advantage of some poor defending, unforced errors on passes, and took down their opponents like there was no tomorrow. While England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel was enjoying the start of the match, it was France’s head coach Didier Deschamps who was sitting on the bench and cursing his players out in his mind as he continued with a blank stare and couldn’t believe what he was watching. When the halftime whistle blew, Deschamps knew he had a lot of work to do to be ready in the second half.

Bukayo Saka completes the hat trick

Bukayo Saka had a monster game playing for England as he earned his hat trick against a powerhouse side like France. He was in the right place at the right time, converting chances and making it look easy for his first two goals of the match. His first goal came from a great run as Marcus Rashford beat the offside trap and went on an attacking run. Saka was trailing behind, and two French defenders were headed back to prevent the chance. Quick chances from both Rashford and Saka were stopped, but Rashford got the rebound and passed it back to Saka, who shot it in in the 37th minute.

The second goal was scored in first half stoppage time as the fourth official posted four minutes. England took advantage of the shambolic defending from France as they never looked like themselves in the opening 45 minutes. They showed it again when Saka got his brace when Eberechi Eze was far away and deep in the midfield. He just sent a big throughball with power towards the running Saka, who picked up the ball with no defenders around it, took a few steps, and when he entered the area, ripped it inside the far post in the first minute of four in first half stoppage time.

The third and final goal came from a foul inside the France area when England had the ball and was looking for a goal to bring back the two-goal lead. Djed Spence was making his run and just got ahead of Malo Gusto. Gusto unfortunately tried to slow Spence down, but instead, tackled him down inside the area, and that allowed the referee to blow his whistle and point to the spot for the penalty. Saka took the spot kick and calmly smashed it inside the near post in the 87th minute to convert his second career hat trick and become the fourth England player to record a hat trick in the World Cup.

Declan Rice gets a gift and scores

The opening goal came inside the 3rd minute when France was trying to move the ball down the pitch to create an attacking run, but a poor pass curled away and went straight toward Declan Rice as an unforced error. Rice made his attacking run toward the French area, and when he saw a chance to take the shot, he did, and it curled inside the far post for the early one-goal lead. The party started early for Rice, and he got the chance to put England ahead.

The second goal came from the corner

England would earn their second goal on a free-kick situation. They earned a corner, and it was taken from the near side. Rice would set it up and deliver it toward the French area. As he put the ball into play and it looked as if it wasn’t going to be a dangerous ball, out of nowhere came Ezri Konsa, hanging around near the far post, and leaped for it. He headed the ball inside the far post for the two-goal lead in the 18th minute. The Three Lions looked confident and wanted to put the French into a hole quickly.

The real France finally woke up and scored

During the halftime session, you had to guess that head coach Didier Deschamps was upset and didn’t like what he saw from his squad. While some players were getting rest, the others looked like they did want to play. A fire was lit under their backsides as Deschamps must’ve read them the riot act. It worked, and all of a sudden, France came out like the team we all saw in this World Cup from the first group stage match all the way to the Semi-Finals. They came roaring back and finally gave England a game and got the crowd into the match as they chipped the lead away.

Kylian Mbappe gets a brace in the resurrection

You had the feeling that Kylian Mbappe didn’t like how that first half went, and he wanted to let everyone know why he is the big star of the World Cup when France gets together and shows the world why he is box office money. He also wanted to make his mark on the golden boot race and nabbed the lead before Messi heads to the Championship Final on Sunday. His first goal was a thing of beauty. After a solid tackle from Dayot Upamecano along the far side, he made a strong pass toward Michael Olise in the middle of the park. He saw Mbappe making the run and delivered a diagonal pass, and on a one-touch, Mbappe found the back of the net inside the far post in the 48th minute.

His second goal almost felt like a carbon copy of his first goal in the second half. As France was attacking up the far side, a quick pass went to Olise, then he made a few quick passes between himself and Mbappe. But on the final pass, it went toward Mbappe, and he smashed the ball inside the far post in the 66th minute. He achieved two things with his second goal. He scored his 10th goal of this World Cup, and he also passed Lionel Messi, scoring the most goals in the tournament itself. He has 22 goals, and Messi has 21 and is currently leading the Golden Boot race.

Barcola slips in and gets his goal

France was finally into the game, and they wanted a second goal. This time, Mbappe became the provider as he was attacking with the ball along the near side and wanted to find a teammate. He found Bradley Barcola just in front of him and slipped a good ball just in front of his path. When Barcola gained possession, he made a slight turn toward his right, entered the area, and scored a quick shot that was inside the near post, and just like that, France was only down by two in the 54th minute.

Two more goals, and the game came to an end

The fourth official posted seven minutes of second-half stoppage time, and many thought this one was already over. But not so, as Ousmane Dembele wanted to put another scare into England and cut it back to a one-goal deficit. Dayot Upamecano brought the ball up the pitch and was looking for someone to be open. He made a fantastic pass toward Ousmane Dembele on the far side. He had a defender on him, made a quick move toward his left, dropped the shoulder, and smashed it inside the back post in the sixth minute of seven. Then England made sure this game would end on their terms when Jude Bellingham rumbled down the pitch looking to fake out the keeper who was well off his line and scored his final goal of the tournament in the eighth minute of second half stoppage time. The final whistle was finally blown, and this exciting third-place match was over.

The last time the World Cup Third-Place match had a lot of goals scored was between France and West Germany in the 1958 World Cup, as both teams scored a combined total of nine goals, with France winning the match 6-3 over West Germany in Gothenburg, Sweden. Just Fontaine scored four goals for France and 13 overall in six matches in that World Cup, including a Hat Trick against Paraguay, a brace against Yugoslavia in the group stage, then another brace in the quarterfinals against Northern Ireland. We will never have a third-place match this exciting ever again when we get to the 2030 edition.

An amazing ten-goal third-place match between England and France got everyone on their feet in Miami at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

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