Ever watched a game where you thought you knew the ending, only for it to flip on its head twice? That is exactly what happened when England and France met in the FIFA World Cup third-place play-off. The match delivered ten goals, two goalscoring streaks, and a finish nobody saw coming.
England walked away with a 6-4 win. It is their best FIFA World Cup finish since they lifted the trophy back in 1966. Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick, Jude Bellingham scored a stunning late winner, and Kylian Mbappe became the tournament’s all-time top scorer. This game had a bit of everything.
A Blistering Start From England
Declan Rice got things going in just the third minute. He picked off a loose pass from France and drove forward before firing a shot past goalkeeper Mike Maignan. It was a bold start from a player who had been criticized for being picked after a heavy 68 games this season.
England did not stop there. Rice also set up the second goal, flicking a corner in for Ezri Konsa to head home. Then Saka got going. He scored once before half-time and added a second in stoppage time, giving England a four-goal cushion heading into the break.
France looked flat in that first half. Many of their players seemed to be thinking about their FIFA World Cup already being over after losing to Spain in the semi-final. England’s Thomas Tuchel made seven changes from the previous game, and his attacking approach paid off early.
France Fight Back After the Break
Everything changed after half-time. Deschamps brought on Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola, and suddenly France looked like a different team. Mbappe pulled a goal back with a quick finish, and Barcola added another soon after.
Mbappe was not finished. He scored again later in the game, finishing off a slick team move. That goal moved him above Lionel Messi as the FIFA World Cup’s all-time top scorer, taking his tally to 22 career goals. Mbappe now sits two goals clear of Messi in this tournament alone, and he is the first player to reach double figures at a single FIFA World Cup since West Germany’s Gerd Muller back in 1970.
For a while, it looked like England might throw away their big lead. France kept pushing and created several good chances to level the score.
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Saka’s Historic Hat-Trick and Bellingham’s Finish
Just when France seemed to be finding a way back in, Saka calmed things down. He scored from the penalty spot in the 87th minute after Djed Spence was fouled in the box. That completed his hat-trick and made him only the second England player ever to score three goals in a FIFA World Cup knockout match. Sir Geoff Hurst was the first, back in the 1966 final.
Dembele pulled another goal back in stoppage time, making it 5-4 and setting up a nervy finish. But Bellingham had the final say. He drove from the halfway line, beat a defender, and slotted the ball home in the 98th minute to make it 6-4.
Bellingham’s goal was his seventh of the tournament. That is the most goals scored by an England player at a single World Cup.
What It Means Going Forward
This was Deschamps’ final match in charge of France after a long and successful spell as manager. His team suffered their first competitive loss to England since 1982, and it was also the first time France had ever conceded six goals in a single World Cup match.
For England, this result caps a tournament full of ups and downs. Reaching third place is their best finish since that famous 1966 win. Pundits could not stop praising the game afterward. Former England defender Stephen Warnock called it “some of the best free flowing football we have seen all tournament.”
Games like this do not come around often. Ten goals, a dramatic hat-trick, a World Cup record for Mbappe, and a last-gasp winner from Bellingham made this third-place match feel like a final in its own right. Fans of England and France alike got a match worth remembering, and this World Cup ended with one more surprise nobody expected.
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