England survive France scare to win 2026 World Cup Bronze
England recorded a stunning 6-4 win over France to win the bronze medal in a classic encounter at the Miami Stadium on Saturday.
Didier Deschamps made seven changes to the side that lost 2-0 to Spain in the semifinal with the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dayot Upamecano, Joules Kounde, William Saliba, Lucas Digne, and Brad Barcola dropping to the bench.
Thomas Tuchel on the other hand rested the likes of Harry Kane, Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, John Stones and Reece James.
Declan Rice opened the scoring for England with a long range effort as early as the second minute to stun France.
The Arsenal midfielder turned provider to assist Eric Konsa in the 18th minute with a well placed header to make it 2-0.
Bukayo Saka made it 3-0 following a breakaway move from England after France defenders left too much of space.
The Arsenal captain then added the second goal following a sublime pass from his club’s teammate Eberechi Eze to make it 4-0.
The French team failed to find their rhythm in the first half as England dominated the encounter.
Deschamps brought on the quartet of Ousmane Dembele, Brad Barcola, Dayot Upamecano, and Lucas Digne for the start of the second half.
The substitutions galvanised the French team as Mbappe quickly reduced the deficit three minutes into the second half with a clinical finish.
Six minutes later, Substitute Barcola made it 4-2 with a close range finish.
Mbappe produced a stunning finish to make it 4-3 following a sublime assist from Olise.
France had England on the ropes for the majority of the second half but they failed to take their chances before England made it 5-3.
Malo Gusto was penalised for fouling Djed Spence before Bukayo Saka converted from the penalty spot to give England a 5-3 lead.
There was still time for another goal as Dembele finished off a flowing move superbly to make it 5-4 in the 96th minute.
Read Also: Mbappé, Bellingham take centre stage in World Cup bronze battle
Substitute Jude Bellingham has the final say for England with a brilliant finish in the 97th minute to make it 6-4 to ensure a bronze medal finish for England at the 2026 World Cup.
It was the highest scoring World Cup match since 1954 when Austria defeated Switzerland 7-5.
Mbappe has now scored 10 goals at the 2026 World Cup to become the top scorer of the tournament.
Lionel Messi has eight goals, he will be hoping to get on the score sheet in the final against Spain to stand any chance of beating Mbappe to the award.
Top Stats From England vs France
France conceded four first half goals for the first time since a EURO qualification match against Yugoslavia in April 1968.
Declan Rice is the first England player to record two assists from corners at the same FIFA World Cup tournament since David Beckham in 2002.
Declan Rice has scored England’s earliest goal in a competitive fixture since Luke Shaw netted inside two minutes in the EURO 2020 final against Italy.
England have secured their best place finish at a World Cup since they won the tournament in 1966.
Ousmane Dembélé has now scored the same amount of World Cup goals for France as Thierry Henry (6).
Only Kylian Mbappe and Just Fontaine have scored more for Les Bleus.
Only four men have scored a World Cup hat-trick for England:
◎ Geoff Hurst (1966)
◎ Gary Lineker (1986)
◎ Harry Kane (2018)
◉ Bukayo Saka (2026)
Players to score 10+ goals at a single World Cup:
◎ 13 – Just Fontaine (1958)
◎ 11 – Sándor Kocsis (1954)
◎ 10 – Gerd Muller (1970)
◉ 10 – Kylian Mbappé (2026)
Michael Olise has now registered more assists (7) in a single World Cup than any other player in history.
Kylian Mbappé has now scored more World Cup goals than any other player in history (22).
