MIAMI: England secured the bronze medal in the FIFA World Cup 2026 after defeating France 6-4 in a breathtaking, record-breaking 10-goal thriller at the Miami Stadium.
Notably, the defeat also spoiled Didier Deschamps’ farewell, bringing the legendary coach’s 14-year tenure as France manager to a disappointing end.
In what will go down as the highest-scoring third-place play-off in modern tournament history, Bukayo Saka’s magnificent hat-trick overcame Kylian Mbappe’s brace and powered the Three Lions to their best World Cup finish on foreign soil since 1966.
England took absolute control of the first half, leaving Les Bleus shell-shocked with an unprecedented 4-0 lead before the interval. Declan Rice opened the scoring just three minutes into the game, before defender Ezri Konsa doubled the advantage in the 18th minute.
Bukayo Saka then took centre stage, netting twice in quick succession (37′, 45+1′) to mark the first time France has ever conceded four goals in a single half of World Cup football. However, the second half saw a dramatic shift in momentum.
Facing his 187th and final match in charge of France, manager Didier Deschamps rang in tactical substitutions at halftime that sparked a furious French resurrection. Mbappe led the charge, striking in the 48th minute before Bradley Barcola added a second just six minutes later to make it 4-2.
When Mbappe struck again in the 66th minute to bring France within one goal, England looked completely rattled under relentless waves of attack. Notably, with his second goal, Mbappe created history by overtaking Lionel Messi to become the highest goalscorer in FIFA World Cup history.
The brace took Mbappe’s World Cup tally to 22 goals, moving him one clear of Messi’s 21. Just as the game seemed to be slipping away from Thomas Tuchel’s men, England found their relief. A late counter-attack resulted in an 87th-minute penalty, which Saka calmly converted to complete his hat-trick and restore breathing room at 5-3.
The drama spilt deep into stoppage time as Ousmane Dembele clawed one back for France in the 90+6th minute, but Jude Bellingham put the final exclamation point on the historic night, scoring in the 90+8th minute to seal the extraordinary 6-4 victory for England to cap their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign on a high. (ANI)
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