England secured third place in the 2026 World Cup with a 6-4 victory over France in a high-scoring thriller on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Bukayo Saka was the standout performer for England, scoring a hat trick to help the Three Lions achieve their best tournament finish since winning the title in 1966.

England built a commanding 4-0 lead by halftime, with Saka scoring in the 37th minute and in first-half stoppage time. Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa also contributed to the early advantage. Despite a strong second-half rally from France, England held on, with Saka adding a penalty goal in the 87th minute to complete his second career hat trick for his country. Jude Bellingham sealed the scoring in second-half stoppage time, marking his seventh goal of the tournament — the most ever by an England player in a single World Cup.

France mounted a spirited comeback largely driven by Kylian Mbappé, who scored twice in the second half to surpass Lionel Messi’s all-time World Cup goal record. Mbappé’s two goals brought his career total to 22, one more than Messi’s 21. With 10 goals in this tournament alone, Mbappé now leads the race for the Golden Boot, two goals ahead of Messi, who will have one final opportunity to reclaim the top scorer award in Sunday’s final against Spain.

Other French scorers included Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé, who chipped in during the second-half surge. Despite their attacking firepower, France missed out on reaching a third consecutive World Cup final after losing to Spain in the semifinals. The match marked the final game for France’s long-serving coach Didier Deschamps, who announced his intention to step down after 14 years in charge. Deschamps acknowledged the team’s disappointing start in the match but praised their second-half effort and expressed sadness over the semifinal loss.

England’s coach Thomas Tuchel described the third-place finish as a step forward despite the semifinals setback, in which England lost 2-1 to Argentina after surrendering a 1-0 lead. Tuchel emphasized the team’s competitive spirit and viewed the result as a building block toward closing the gap with top-tier national teams.

The 10-goal tally in this match was the highest-scoring World Cup game since Hungary defeated El Salvador 10-1 in 1982 and set a record for most goals in a third-place playoff. The sold-out crowd of 64,478 witnessed a memorable and entertaining contest ahead of the highly anticipated final scheduled for Sunday.