England beat France in 10-goal thriller to claim World Cup third place

England claimed third place at the 2026 North and Central America World Cup on Sunday, defeating France 6-4 in a breathless 10-goal contest.

Bukayo Saka's hat trick led the way as England held off a fierce French comeback in the second half to win the third-place match at Miami Stadium in Miami, Florida.

England had beaten the Democratic Republic of Congo (2-1), Mexico (3-2) and Norway (2-1) in succession from the round of 32 before falling to Argentina 2-1 in a semifinal comeback defeat. They closed the tournament with a win to ease the disappointment of missing out on a first title in 60 years. England now lead France 3-1 in all-time World Cup head-to-head meetings.

France, winners of the 2018 Russia World Cup and runners-up at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, finished fourth. Les Bleus had swept past Sweden (3-0), Paraguay (1-0) and Morocco (2-0) in the knockout rounds before suffering a 2-0 loss to Spain in the semifinals.

England will receive $29 million in prize money, while France will receive $27 million.

France striker Kylian Mbappe scored twice and added an assist to bring his tournament tally to 10 goals and four assists. That moved him two goals clear of Argentina's Lionel Messi (8 goals, 4 assists) in the Golden Boot race ahead of the final.

Both sides rested key players from their starting lineups. England left Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham on the bench, while France started without Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Dayot Upamecano. England drew first blood just three minutes in, when Declan Rice struck a crisp long-range shot to open the scoring.

In the 18th minute, Rice delivered a corner from the left that Ezri Konsa headed home to make it 2-0. Saka then added a brace with his left foot before halftime, giving England a four-goal cushion at the break.

France brought on Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola at the start of the second half. Mbappe pulled one back just three minutes after the restart, finishing a through ball from Michael Olise with his left foot from the center of the penalty area.

France's second goal, in the 54th minute, also came from a decisive Mbappe contribution. He threaded a long pass down the left into the space behind the defense, and Barcola converted with a right-footed finish.

Mbappe was not done. In the 66th minute, he exchanged a quick one-two with Olise to shake off a defender and drilled a left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner.

England responded in the 79th minute by introducing Bellingham and Elliott Anderson to shift the momentum. Saka completed his hat trick in the 86th minute, converting a penalty won by Jed Spence.

Dembele pulled one back for France in the 96th minute, but Bellingham struck a clincher two minutes later to seal England's third-place finish.