World Cup 2026 · Third-Place Match

ENGLAND EDGE
FRANCE 6–4 IN THE
HIGHEST-SCORING
BRONZE FINAL EVER

Bukayo Saka scored a hat trick, France came back from four goals down to within one, and Jude Bellingham settled a ten-goal match in the eighth minute of stoppage time. Kylian Mbappé left Miami as the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history.

July 18, 2026 · GO2CUP Editorial

Saturday, July 18, 2026
★ Third-Place Match
England England 6–4 France France
Third-Place Match · Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
Saka hat trick Mbappé 22 career WC goals — all-time record Most goals in a World Cup match since 1982 England's best finish since 1966

England were four goals up inside 46 minutes and still needed a goal in the 98th to win it. That is the shortest honest summary of the strangest match of the 2026 World Cup.

Declan Rice opened the scoring after three minutes. Ezri Konsa made it two by the 18th. Then Bukayo Saka scored in the 37th and again in first-half stoppage time, and England went in at the break 4–0 up in a third-place match that both coaches had spent the week describing as a game nobody wanted to play.

France came back anyway. Kylian Mbappé scored three minutes into the second half. Bradley Barcola pulled another back in the 54th. Mbappé struck again in the 66th, and a match that had looked finished at half time was suddenly 4–3 with 24 minutes to play.

Saka completed his hat trick from the penalty spot in the 87th minute to restore the two-goal cushion. Ousmane Dembélé answered in the sixth minute of stoppage time to make it 5–4. Jude Bellingham had the last word two minutes later.

Ten goals. It is the most goals scored in a single World Cup match since 1982, and the highest-scoring third-place match in the tournament's history.

England flagEngland

  • Rice 3'
  • Konsa 18'
  • Saka 37'
  • Saka 45+1'
  • Saka 87' pen
  • Bellingham 90+8'

France flagFrance

  • Mbappé 48'
  • Barcola 54'
  • Mbappé 66'
  • Dembélé 90+6'

Mbappé's record, on a losing afternoon

The two goals moved Kylian Mbappé to 22 career World Cup goals, making him the all-time leading scorer in the history of the tournament. He set the record in a match his team lost, in a fixture neither side wanted, in front of a Miami crowd watching a bronze medal change hands four times.

For France it is a fourth-place finish. For England it is third — their best World Cup result since they won the tournament in 1966, and the closest they have come to the podium's top step in sixty years.

What came next

The following afternoon at MetLife Stadium, Spain beat Argentina 1–0 after extra time to win the 2026 World Cup. Every result from the tournament is archived on the GO2CUP scoreboard.

Reporting note

GO2CUP is an independent fan site, not a wire service. Match facts on this page follow the results and records reported by neutral international news outlets covering the tournament. Where a claim is disputed or unconfirmed, we say so.