England take World Cup third place with 6-4 win against France
England beat France 6-4 in a high-scoring World Cup third-place playoff thanks to a hat-trick from Bukayo Saka while Kylian Mbappe became the highest scorer in the tournament's history.
- Sports
- Reuters
- Published Date: 02:11 AM 19 July 2026
England claimed third place at the World Cup by beating France 6-4 on Saturday, while Les Bleus' captain Kylian Mbappe became the tournament's all-time top scorer with 22 goals on coach Didier Deschamps' last game after 14 years in charge.
England scored four in the first half through Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and a Bukayo Saka double
Saka completed his hat-trick with an 87th-minute penalty
Mbappe scored two, either side of Bradley Barcola's goal in the second half, to take his tally to 10 at this World Cup
Ousmane Dembele netted France's fourth six minutes into stoppage before Jude Bellingham added a sixth for England
Mbappe leads the Golden Boot standings with two more goals than Argentina forward Messi
The 27-year-old also leads Messi, who is preparing to play in Sunday's final against Spain, by one goal in the all-time World Cup scoring charts
Michael Olise has a World Cup record of seven assists, ahead of Pele's six in 1970
France recovered from a shambolic start after Deschamps brought in Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Digne to reinforce a disoriented back four
Deschamps leaves France after 185 matches.