France 4-6 England
The World Cup 2026 Third Place Play-off match must be one of the strangest fixtures in football. On the one hand it is a great accolade for the nations who have established themselves as one of the best four in world football.
On the other hand, neither team really wanted to be here. France and England have just suffered crushing disappointment, losing to Spain and Argentina in the semi-finals. And now they had to pick themselves up for this ‘best of the rest’ prize. In the latter stages of the competition the World Cup 2026 betting odds backed Les Bleus, but they were totally outplayed by Spain in their semi-final.
And they were slapped again on Saturday in the third place play-off as England ran out 6-4 winners in a thoroughly entertaining joust which at least put a smile back on the England fans’ faces, as Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick.
Highlights of the game
Both coaches made wholesale changes to their line-ups, with England resting Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Elliot Anderson while France started without William Saliba and Ousmane Dembele among others. And the absence of Arsenal centre back Saliba became painfully obvious for Les Bleus in a calamitous defensive display in the first half which saw England go into half time with a four-goal lead.
Declan Rice opened the floodgates as early as the third minute as he was given the freedom of the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to waltz through the France defence and fire his shot beyond the unsighted Mike Maignan, and then he turned provider with a perfect cross for Ezri Konsa to glance a header home. Saka was the next to get in on the act with a well taken third and he doubled his tally in first half injury time, taking advantage of more chaos in the French defence which showed little sign of any resistance.
The second half was an entirely different battle after Didier Deschamps threw Dembele and Bradley Barcola on and, after Kylian Mbappe nicked a goal three minutes after the restart, Barcola made it 4-2 with over half an hour to play. Just before the second half hydration break Mbappe scored his second and tenth of the tournament and Les Bleus smelled blood. But for once the break worked in England’s favour and they had breathing space when Malo Gusto fouled Djed Spence and the referee pointed to the spot. Saka stepped up and completed his hat-trick to show what might have been had he been fit throughout the campaign.
Dembele made it 5-4 in injury time before Bellingham scored a brilliant individual goal with the last kick of the match.
Key statistics
This third place finish may not entirely wipe away the dismay of losing their semi-final to Argentina, but it is England’s best performance since they won the World Cup in 1966.
And take a look at the match stats. Both teams had 19 shots and England had 11 on target to France’s nine. The fans in Miami certainly got their money’s worth; which hasn’t always been the case in this World Cup.
Kylian Mbappe has now scored more goals than anyone else in World Cup history with 22 and he has taken a two goals lead over Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.
What’s next?
Next up it is the Greatest Show on earth as Spain and Argentina come face to face in the World Cup Final on Sunday in New Jersey, and we’ll be back again with our SBOTOP report of all the action, stats and our punchy opinions. I’m expecting a ding-dong battle with La Roja coping with La Albiceleste’s aggression and edging the final.
Let’s see.
As for these two nations; there will be a change of leadership for Les Bleus as Didier Deschamps has called time on his impressive 14 years year stint as France head coach, in which time he brought the World Cup home in 2018 and added the European championship in 2020.
On the whole England’s World Cup 2026 results were probably as good as expected and Thomas Tuchel has vowed to continue as head coach and I, for one, am quite happy with that. I thought the Three Lions showed a lot of fight in this competition and eventually fell to Argentina when they looked battle worn and weary. Tuchel has a lot of young players to work with, and he will have his eyes on bringing long awaited success for the England fans at Euro 2028. And the UEFA Nations League gives him plenty of opportunity to improve his team. Before then of course we have top class domestic football around the corner from Europe’s best leagues, and with an eye on Major League Soccer and the Saudi Pro League. What’s not to like!
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