England secured third place at the 2026 World Cup by defeating France 6-4 in the playoff held on July 18 at Miami Stadium, marking their best finish since winning the tournament in 1966 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Bukayo Saka shone for England with a hat-trick, including a decisive penalty in the 87th minute, completing his three goals in the match [1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 5]. Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa, and Jude Bellingham also scored for England, with Bellingham netting the final goal that sealed the win after France’s late comeback [1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 7, 5] [2, 4, 5].
France fought back from a 4-0 halftime deficit to narrow the score to 5-4 before England pulled away again. Kylian Mbappe scored twice for France, supported by goals from Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele [1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 7, 5]. Mbappe also set a new World Cup all-time scoring record by reaching 22 career goals, surpassing Lionel Messi’s 21 [1, 8, 2, 3, 9, 10]. He finished the 2026 tournament with 10 goals, clinching the Golden Boot by two goals over Messi [1, 8, 2, 3, 10]. Mbappe commented, "I would have preferred not to be the all-time top scorer and to be playing tomorrow’s match. It’s good in terms of legacy, but today it’s not the first thing on my mind" [10].
France’s Michael Olise recorded two assists in the match to set a new World Cup record with seven assists, breaking Pele’s long-standing mark of six from 1970 [1, 2, 3]. The game served as the final match in charge for France’s coach Didier Deschamps, who ended his 14-year tenure with 185 matches at the helm [1, 3].
England coach Thomas Tuchel made seven changes to the starting lineup, including leaving captain Harry Kane on the bench [5]. Tuchel expressed pride in England’s achievement, saying, "It's the first medal for 60 years, the best World Cup on foreign soil. So I hope that the players can be proud of that in some time." He acknowledged the pain of missing the final but saw third place as progress toward joining football’s elite nations [6, 7]. Tuchel added, "We beat them. Today is the first step to closing it" in reference to France’s recent dominance [7].
Prior to the third-place match, England lost 2-1 to Argentina in the semi-final on July 15 [6, 7]. Lionel Messi and Argentina are scheduled to face Spain in the World Cup final on July 19 [1, 8, 4, 5].
