England win World Cup bronze in 10-goal thriller as Bukayo Saka hat-trick upstages record-breaking Kylian Mbappe
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England defeated France 6-4 in the 2026 World Cup third-place play-off, featuring a hat-trick from Bukayo Saka. The match was the highest-scoring third-place game in tournament history, providing a high-energy conclusion to England's campaign.
Why it matters
The match highlights the offensive capabilities of the current England squad and provides a statistical milestone for World Cup history.
The bronze-medal match tends to be one of the highest-scoring games of the tournament, and this one certainly didn't disappoint. England manager Thomas Tuchel called it a fixture “nobody wants to play in” earlier in the week, but that didn't appear to be the case as the Three Lions and France battled in the highest-scoring third-place match in World Cup history, with England edging a wild 6-4 win
Declan Rice fired England in front almost instantly, curling a long-range effort from 25 yards beyond Mike Maignan. Désiré Doué's poor pass was intercepted to spark the attack, and it was a shot the France goalkeeper should have saved. Still, it was a much-needed goal for an England side heavily criticized for its collapse against Argentina in the semifinal.
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