Historically, third place games have typically been high scoring, wide open, and free-flowing, but England and France took that to another level on Saturday at Miami Stadium. England defeated France 6-4 to claim bronze at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It was the best finish the Three Lions have had in the tournament since 1966 when they won at home.
But the game itself was extraordinary. England was brilliant in the first half and jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Embarrassed, French manager Didier Deschamps made a wave of substitutions at halftime.
Those who worked in for France mounted a ferocious comeback attempt led by Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise. France's comeback attempt fell just short, but not before Olise and Mbappé put their names in the record books for two of the best individual performances ever at the World Cup. Here are my takeaways, one for every England goal: 1.
England's High Flying Circus Surely disappointed after collapsing late in its 2-1 loss to Argentina in the semifinals, England played with a real purpose to leave this tournament on a high note. Right away, England was ruthless in taking advantage of sloppy French mistakes. In just the third minute, it was Declan Rice who took advantage of a turnover in the midfield and scored a beautiful goal to set the tone.
England was all over France from the opening whistle in terms of being aggressive, getting numbers into the attack, and finishing its chances. After Rice’s goal, it was Ezri Konsa who headed home a corner delivered by Rice. Then it was Bukayo Saka who scored two more goals for England before halftime.
Saka likely was playing with a chip on his shoulder and was heavily motivated by the fact he did not get off the bench in the loss to Argentina. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Dean Henderson earned the start after backing up Jordan Pickford throughout this tournament. The Crystal Palace shot stopper made several important saves to keep France at bay and allow England to build its lead.
The first half was beautiful from England and the intensity gap between the teams was as wide as the Atlantic Ocean. But it would not last. Instead of setting the stage for an easy third place win, it only set the stage for a collapse.
2. Three Lions – Saka, Bellingham, Henderson – Stood Out The best players for England in this game were Saka and Henderson who were solid over the course of 90 minutes, not just the first half. Unsurprisingly, both players likely had more energy after not playing in the semifinal.
But they were also likely motivated to leave a positive mark on this tournament, and prove they belong on the field in the future. Saka completed the hat trick in the second half when he was allowed to take a penalty in the 87th minute to slow France’s comeback and become just the fourth English player to notch a World Cup hat trick after Geoff Hurst against West Germany in the 1966 final, Gary Lineker vs. Poland in 1986, and Harry Kane did so while facing Panama in 2018.
Then there was Jude Bellingham, who only came into the game in the 79th minute but who gave England enough quality to come across the winners. His dribbling down the stretch was phenomenal, and he capped the scoring to finish the tournament with seven goals. Bellingham’s World Cup was one of the greatest performance an English player ever had in a major international tournament.
Finally, it is not often when a goalkeeper stands out after conceding four goals, but Henderson did just that. He made five saves in this game, including three very difficult ones that prevented France from having a strong start and limited its comeback attempt. 3.
Bad Start For Les Bleus For any French fan, that first half was tough to watch. Even if the team was disappointed to have to settle for a third-place game, Les Bleus still needed to show up and be proud. Any team that is in the third-place game of a World Cup is still among the best teams in the world and needs to be respectful of the situation.
France was not. Where this was most apparent for France in the first half was the team’s lack of desire to track back and defend once England came into possession. Every time England had the ball in France's half, it looked like it was going to score.
France's attacking players always remained up the field in attacking positions, they completely ignored their defensive responsibility – especially in the first half. In England’s opening goal, Désiré Doué was sloppy and gave the ball away. Rice then collected the ball and moved 40 to 50 yards without ever having any pressure on him from any French player.
It was an ugly omen for France about how the rest of the game was going to go. The first half was almost an insult to French manager Didier Deschamps who was in his last game in charge of France. He is set to step aside after this tournament.
But his tenure in charge of the team has been terrific. He took over in 2012 after a period of disappointment where Les Bleus did not get out of the group at the 2010 World Cup and were bounced from Euro 2012 in the quarterfinals. Over the next 14 years, Deschamps built France into champions.
And Les Beus are consistently a favorite in every tournament, winning the World Cup in 2018. 4. A Furious French Comeback Falters Deschamps was clearly furious with the first half, and he made four substitutions to start the second half.
Among those that came into the game were veterans Ousmane Dembélé, Lucas Digne and Dayot Upamecano, who clearly understood that the task was to save Les Bleus from embarrassment. The second half was an inspired performance from the French team as it clearly began playing up to its potential. As bad as France was in the first half, they were almost as good in the second half.
The changes were very influential in getting Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappé involved in the game after both were unable to make an impact in the first half. The extraordinary final 45 minutes was very wide open and free flowing. Unfortunately for England, those situations favored a French team loaded with some of the best attacking talent in the world.
France very much looked as if they were going to find an equalizer, but Malo Gusto brought down Djed Spence in the box and was whistled for a penalty. And then, it was Bellingham who helped give England the quality to finish. As much fun as this game was, France’s fans and players will want to forget this game as the first half was inexcusable, and an even mediocre performance would not have required such a massive comeback attempt.
5. Mbappé And Olise Set Records One of the most important developments from this game is that Mbappé is now the Golden Boot leader with ten goals at this tournament. He also has four assists in this tournament to have one of the most productive World Cups ever on record.
Mbappé now has the all-time World Cup scoring record of 21 goals in his career. For a player who is still only 27 years old, that is extraordinary and that total is likely going to increase in 2030 and beyond. Of course for Mbappé, Messi has one more game to play.
Olise did not score at this World Cup for France despite having over 20 shots. But he had two assists in this game to finish the tournament with seven. That is the most assists ever on record for a single World Cup.
6. It Could Still Come Home, Again – In 2028 (At The Euros) For England, the pressure is mounting to be in a position to win a major tournament. To date, it has only won the World Cup once, which came in 1966 when it hosted the tournament.
The Three Lions have never won a European Championship. In two years, England will be one of the co-hosts of the 2028 Euros along with Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The pressure for England to be in the final at Wembley in two years is enormous.
Following the loss to Argentina, this game against France was billed not as the conclusion to this tournament but as the beginning of its campaign leading to 2028, where England has realistic hopes to be one of the best teams at the tournament. Beating France in a game where Harry Kane did not even play is an encouraging start. England will be an extremely difficult team to beat in two years.
