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.
Arsenal forward Saka said beating Deschamps’ France was an “amazing” result but admitted the defeat to Argentina “hurt a lot”.
“When you lose there’s always going to be noise, when you win there’s going to be noise,” Saka said.
“It’s how you react to it, how you use it as fuel and today we finished strong so that’s all we could really do and we’ve done it.”
Both coaches made multiple changes for the match in the oppressive heat of Miami, with a host of stars on the bench.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice put England ahead with a goal from distance in the third minute and Ezri Konsa headed home to make it 2-0.
The game threatened to become embarrassing for France when Saka made it 3-0 after a swift break and the Arsenal man scored again in first-half stoppage time.
Deschamps, taking charge of France for the final time, told French TV channel M6 that the first-half display had been “catastrophic”, urging his men to show pride.
He made multiple substitutions at the start of the second half, bringing on Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola.
He was rewarded almost instantly when Mbappe scored his ninth goal of the tournament to move clear of Messi at the top of the Golden Boot standings.
The game had now totally changed complexion and Barcola pulled another goal back.
Mbappe then netted his second of the game to become the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with 22 goals — slotting home from Michael Olise’s pass.
France squandered a number of opportunities and England were handed a chance to extend their lead when Malo Gusto brought down Djed Spence in the penalty area.
Substitute Bellingham handed Saka the ball and he stepped up to the spot and converted to complete his hat-trick.
There was still time for Dembele to grab a fourth for France but Bellingham then strode forward to score the 10th goal of the match with a fine individual effort.
By finishing third, England secured their best result at a World Cup since winning the tournament in 1966.
Deschamps led France to World Cup glory in 2018 and finished as runners-up four years ago.
Les Bleus were favourites to win the 2026 tournament after a sensational start but were beaten 2-0 by Spain in the semifinals.
Three-time champions Argentina face European champions Spain in the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday.
Source: Khaleej Times