England beat France 6-4 to claim the World Cup third place on Saturday, its best finish at the tournament since lifting the trophy in 1966 as they combined to score the most goals in a World Cup game since 1982. Kylian Mbappe scored twice and moved two clear of Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race. He also surpassed Messi's all-time World Cup scoring record with 22 goals. England surged to a 4-0 lead in the first half, and although France found rhythm after the interval, they were ultimately unable to overturn the deficit. Bukayo Saka completed a hat-trick for England. There were two very different halves, Mbappe said. During the first one, I can understand why some people think we made fools of ourselves and didn't do the jersey justice. I'd say instead that we were human-and we can't afford to be. We were completely stunned, and they really shook us awake. In the second half, we went back to being top-level players, mental machines. In the end, we didn't win, and that's a shame for the coach [Didier Deschamps]. We wanted to do something for him, he added. The first half gives the impression that we let him down-that's not at all how we wanted him to feel. That match isn't going to tarnish Didier Deschamps' legacy, he said. Despite Deschamps admitting pre-match that his side lacked motivation for this fixture, Les Bleus still started stars like Mbappe, Michael Olise, and Mike Maignan. By contrast, England rested key players, with Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Jordan Pickford on the bench. England opened the account just three minutes into the game when Declan Rice drove into the French half and hammered home a right-footed strike. France attempted to respond in the 11th minute, but Rayan Cherki's long-range effort was well saved by Dean Henderson. The Three Lions thought they had doubled their lead shortly after, only for Saka to be ruled offside. They did make it 2-0 in the 18th minute when Rice swung a corner into the box and Ezri Konsa headed in. In the 37th minute, Marcus Rashford's one-on-one effort was stopped by Maignan. The rebound fell to the onrushing Saka, whose follow-up was blocked by Maxence Lacroix before Rashford supplied the final touch for Saka to make it 3-0. Things went from bad to worse for Les Bleus before the break as Eberechi Eze threaded a pinpoint pass to Saka, who drifted inside and finished neatly from 16 meters to give England a 4-0 lead. Deschamps made four changes at half-time and finally pulled one back in the 48th minute as Mbappe slotted home Olise's cross. In the 54th minute, substitute Bradley Barcola cut the deficit, firing a clinical shot into the near corner. Mbappe grabbed his second in the 66th minute after a one-two with Olise, leaving France needing one more to level. England was awarded a penalty in the 87th minute. Bellingham, who had initially picked up the ball, handed it to Saka. The winger stepped up and calmly converted from the spot to complete a hat-trick. France made it 5-4 in stoppage time with Ousmane Dembele's left-footed strike but Bellingham nailed the victory for England from close range in the 98th minute. Bellingham finished the 2026 World Cup with seven goals, a new England record for the most goals by a player in a single tournament. Deschamps took full responsibility for the defeat. It's a loss. We were down 4-0; we played a disgraceful first half. We did show some fight, though, and there were things we did well. We had two chances to tie it up at 4-4, and after that, we pushed forward a little more. We did what we know how to do, he added. It's my fault. I must not have done what was needed in the first half. At least it looked like something, even if the loss hurts. Obviously, it would have been better to finish third, said the coach.
