England beats France 6-4 to claim 3rd place at World Cup

England has claimed third place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after defeating France 6-4 in the tournament’s highest-scoring match in 44 years.

The third-place playoff kicked off at 5 p.m. ET Saturday at Miami Stadium, where England dominated the first half and built a 4-0 lead before halftime.

Declan Rice opened the scoring in the third minute, followed by goals from Ezri Konsa in the 18th minute and Saka in the 37th. Saka scored again one minute into first-half additional time.

France mounted a rapid comeback after halftime. Kylian Mbappé scored in the 48th minute, Bradley Barcola added another six minutes later and Mbappé struck again in the 66th to cut England’s lead to 4-3.

Saka completed his hat trick from the penalty spot in the 87th minute, restoring England’s two-goal advantage.

Ousmane Dembélé scored for France six minutes into additional time, but Jude Bellingham answered two minutes later to secure England’s 6-4 victory.

The match was played without any cards and included relatively few fouls, including the one that led to England’s penalty.

The 10-goal game was the highest-scoring World Cup match since June 15, 1982, when Hungary defeated El Salvador 10-1.

The World Cup concludes Sunday when Spain faces Argentina in the final at New York New Jersey Stadium.