England nearly blows 4-0 lead, but tops France to claim 3rd place in World Cup
England and France didn’t want to be in Miami on Saturday. Instead, they hoped to be in the New York area to play in Sunday’s World Cup final.
But in the semifinals, England squandered a late 1-0 lead to Lionel Messi and Argentina, and France — a tournament favorite —was outclassed 2-0 by Spain. Those crushing results led to England and France playing in the third-place bronze match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
“None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said after the loss to Argentina. “We demand the most of ourselves. That’s just the nature of being competitive. They want to play in the final.”
As it turns out, it appeared that France was uninterested in being in Miami during the first half on Saturday. Then it looked like England wanted to be anywhere else during the second half.
That made for a wild match that shifted drastically from the first half to the second half, as England nearly blew a 4-0 lead. But England held on for a 6-4 victory over France in front of almost 65,000 fans to claim third place in the 2026 World Cup.
This marks England’s best World Cup finish since winning the tournament in 1966. England previously played in two other bronze matches and lost both — in 1990 and 2018.
“It’s the first medal in 60 years,” Tuchel said. “... I hope that the players can be proud of that in some time.”
Even with its top two goal scorers (Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham) on the bench to start the game, England was the aggressor against a lifeless French team in the first half.
England took an early 1-0 lead on a goal from Declan Rice in the third minute. Rice intercepted a mistimed pass from France near midfield, taking the ball into space until he let go of a strike that was from just outside the box and zipped past France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
England then pulled ahead 2-0 off a header from Ezri Konsa on a corner kick in the 18th minute.
It only got worse for France in the first half, as England added two goals from Bukayo Saka before halftime to enter the break with a commanding, 4-0 lead.
At halftime, England had seven shots on goal to France’s two shots on goal.
“It was terrible,” France coach Didier Deschamps said of the first half.
But France turned it on after halftime, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half to put pressure on England.
Captain Kylian Mbappe scored France’s first goal in the 48th minute, and Bradley Barcola cut England’s lead to 4-2 with a goal in the 54th minute.
France kept coming, as Mbappe then scored his second goal of the day in the 66th minute to cut England’s once big lead to 4-3 with more than 20 minutes to play.
France’s comeback attempt fell just short, though.
France nearly tied the game several times in the final minutes, but England was able to extend its lead to 5-3 on a penalty kick off the foot of Saka in the 87th minute for his third goal of the day. England’s penalty kick came after Malo Gusto fouled Djed Spence in the box.
France got one more goal from Ousmane Dembele in the 96th minute to again pull within one goal.
But England quickly closed the door on France with a beautiful goal from Bellingham in the 98th minute to again take a two-goal lead on its way to the win. Bellingham was substituted into the match in the 79th minute.
“I did get angry at halftime,” Deschamps said. “... Obviously, we ended up losing. The image we gave in the second half displayed more of the normal French performances.
“It’s good that the team was able to react, and we were very close to a better ending. But we must accept our fate.”
Mbappe’s two goals put him ahead of Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, which is awarded to the player with the most goals in each World Cup. Mbappe is vying for his second straight Golden Boot after earning the honor with eight goals in the 2022 World Cup.
Mbappe now has 10 goals during this World Cup, two more than Messi’s eight goals. Messi will have a chance to respond in Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain, with total assists the tiebreaker if they finish with the same number of goals scored.
While England would have rather been in New York to play in Sunday’s World Cup final, it will be awarded a bronze medal for winning Saturday’s third-place game.
In addition, England earns a larger share of the tournament prize money — $2 million more — with the third-place team taking home $29 million and the fourth-place team getting $27 million.
The third-place finish also takes some heat off Tuchel, who was booed when his name was announced during pre-match introductions. Tuchel has received criticism for England’s semifinal loss to Argentina, when the Three Lions lost despite leading 1-0 in the 84th minute.
“The press conference yesterday felt like we went out in group stage with a win,” Tuchel said after Saturday’s third-place finish. “And 24 hours later, we have the biggest success in 60 years. So to take the low not too low and the high not too high is what we try to do.”
Meanwhile, Deschamps’ time as France’s coach is over. Deschamps, 57, has been in charge of France’s team for 14 years, during which it won the 2018 World Cup and reached three successive semifinals.
“I’ve received so many beautiful messages,” Deschamps said. “I don’t want to cry in front of you. I could. But I was deeply moved. ... It is the end of my journey, a journey that represented the most beautiful period.”
French player Jules Kounde was sentimental when talking about Deschamps.
“People had fallen out of love with the French team,” Kounde said of his coach. “We’re grateful for him.”
This story was originally published July 18, 2026 at 5:08 PM.
