For a match that FIFA practically overlooked in their marketing, the FIFA World Cup 2026 3rd Place Match played out like a championship matchup. England defeated France 6-4 in a 10-goal thriller that saw the Three Lions score four unanswered goals in the first half, a Kylian Mbappé brace, and a Bukayo Saka hat-trick. This was the highest-scoring World Cup match since 1982.
England heard all the criticism from the semifinal match and came out flying against France, breaking the deadlock in under three minutes. England’s Declan Rice recovered possession from an errant pass by Désiré Doué. With options on the counterattack, the English captain broke into the final third on his own, stopped just outside the top of the box, and aimed a rocket for the far corner.
In the 19th minute, Ezri Konsa scored his first-ever World Cup goal from a corner kick. Declan Rice, not long after scoring the first goal of the match, lent an assist from the corner to Konsa.
Bukayo Saka sent Marcus Rashford on with a long ball that, after a 40-yard run, found him 1 v 1 with Mike Maignan. Chaos ensued after Maignan’s first save, forcing him to stay off his line and man-mark Rashford. By the time reinforcements came for France, Saka had positioned himself favorably (after going to ground) and one-timed a shot past the keeper to increase their lead to three goals. But England wasn’t done.
Saka earned his brace in the first minute of stoppage time after beating Maignon a second time, cutting to his left and aiming toward the far post. An unused substitute in the semifinal started in the 3rd Place Match and scored a hat-trick. Even with the win, questions will be swirling around Thomas Tuchel’s tactics. With a four-nil lead at halftime, had he allowed his squad to play open and free like this on Wednesday, who knows where they would’ve been playing this weekend (potentially the World Cup Final on Sunday).
Kylian Mbappé came out in the second half like his meme reputation was on the line and scored within the opening two minutes. Six minutes later, it was Bradley Barcola. 15 minutes later, back to Mbappé. When he beat Dean Henderson for the second time, he scored his 10th goal of the 2026 World Cup and now leads the Golden Boot race.
France was moving at a full head of steam until a Malo Gusto foul in the box on Djed Spence led to a late-stage penalty. As Bellingham gave way to Saka to take the penalty, the Arsenal baller converted the try and earned a hat-trick. With a 5-3 scoreline, the match tied the most goals scored in a match in the tournament with the Germany-Curaçao match. The Group E match ended 7-1 in Germany’s favor.
Five minutes into second half stoppage time, France continued to threaten and never gave up. Ousmane Dembele beat Henderson to the far post and made the match 5-4. Immediately on the other end, France got caught walking, and Jude Bellingham, from the halfway line, dribbled all the way into the goalkeeper’s box and scored past two defenders and a helpless Maignan for England’s exclamation point on the match.
The official 3rd Place Match was everything football needed. A high-scoring affair for the fans, an ending that wasn’t affected by officiating, moments of individual brilliance, and pure football camaraderie. After the match, there weren’t any sad faces. There was nothing but respect on both sides, smiles from the managers, and cheers from the fans. Who could be mad after a match that featured 10 goals to decide who wins third place in the World Cup? The people made more of this match than even FIFA, with the organizers not even posting about the match until this morning. It’s understandable why today’s match has been widely labeled “The People’s Final” across social media. With Spain having won it in recent memory (2010), and the masses despising Argentina for a myriad of reasons, France and England were heavy favorites to go all the way. So even though neither side made it to the final, the people still got their wish.
With the World Cup Final taking place tomorrow in New York New Jersey Stadium, it’s easy to miss what today’s match represented. Today was the last match with Didier Deschamps in charge of Les Bleus as French legend Zinedine Zidane is set to take over. Only time will tell if today was enough for Tuchel to keep his job as England’s manager after fans and pundits alike were calling for his job after Wednesday’s semifinal. For the first time in a World Cup, England featured nine Black players in its starting XI. Sadly, we’ve probably seen the last World Cup for N’Golo Kante after the aging midfielder rode the bench the entire tournament. Kylian Mbappé becomes the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with 22 goals. And finally, England’s third-place victory is their second-best finish since 1966.
Tune in for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final tomorrow, Sunday, July 19, at 3:00 PM/ET as Spain looks to dethrone Argentina. Watch live coverage on Fox (English) and Telemundo (Spanish).
-Jon Jones
Photos: Eyoel Fassil