World Cup live updates: What to know about England vs. France in Miami Gardens
South Florida is hosting its last 2026 FIFA World Cup match with France taking on England in the third-place game. The game started at 5 p.m. Saturday in Miami Gardens at Hard Rock Stadium (which has been renamed Miami Stadium and stripped of all non-FIFA corporate branding for the duration of the five-week tournament).
The Miami Herald will keep you updated on what is going on at the stadium in this live-updates blog.
A happy tune?
What song would you want to hear if your team just won a big game?
If you’re an England fan, you have to make sure the song is coming from a British artist.
Thousands of England fans were blissful after their team’s hard-fought triumph. But their victory song of choice was an angst-filled song from the 1990s: “Wonderwall” by the English band Oasis.
“Because maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me,” England fans sang.
And maybe England’s national team did save all of its fans who made it to the match. England almost blew a big lead, but came out on top, 6-4.
The song is not the happiest one that you will hear, but that didn’t matter. The England fans were ecstatic to hug each other and belt out each word.
This World Cup didn’t end with a championship for the Three Lions, but it ended with a memorable win.
-Michael Butler
A big change
After England took a 4-0 lead, many fans used the halftime break to celebrate, use the restrooms or get frozen treats from Italian Vice, a Miami business with two booths at the stadium.
Then the unexpected happened.
“GOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!” an announcer screamed. The stadium rumbled with 64,478 fans in attendance.
France had scored then scored again. And again. Little kids rooting for France ran out of food lines with their parents. Before anyone knew what was going on, the score was 4-3.
Even after England went up 5-3 with two minutes left, France’s Kylian Mbappe made the game feel like it was still within reach.
-Michael Butler
‘Third place in the whole world’
One of the biggest debates in sports has been whether the third-place match matters. Neither England nor France is playing for the World Cup title.
Saturday’s humid match was extremely important to England and France fans in attendance. Nothing could change that.
Houston resident Raul Cancinos walked around with a large England flag. He was in such a jubilant mood that he gave an extra glass of whiskey that a bartender served him to another England fan.
No one could tell Cancinos that competing for third place didn’t matter.
“It matters because this means third place in the whole world,” he said.
Cancinos moved to Houston from Guatemala 20 years ago and is enjoying the 2026 World Cup. Cancinos attended a Dallas match on June 17 when England beat Croatia 4-2. He promised an England fan sitting next to him that he would make a video with England’s flag.
Two weeks ago, Cancinos sold a ticket for Saturday’s match online for $4,500. When he checked online Saturday morning, he saw a ticket selling for $600.
France fans were excited to see stars like French player Kylian Mbappe play on Saturday.
“As a France fan, I would love to see Mbappe win the Golden Boot,” said Miami native Alex Guerrero. The Golden Boot is awarded to the player who scores the most goals during the tournament.
Guerrero, 22, is a student at Florida International University and has been a France fan since he was 7 years old. He proudly wore his blue France jersey.
-Michael Butler
Fans of other teams
The story about Miami Gardens’ final 2026 World Cup match might not be as much about England and France, the two teams playing, but the teams that aren’t playing.
The fan festival outside the stadium was packed with fans wearing colors that didn’t represent England or France. Fans of other teams wore Brazil and Germany jerseys. Large groups of fans sported Mexico jerseys.
But one man wearing a giant hat stood out from the crowd.
Armando Zuniga flew to Miami from Bogota, Colombia, for Saturday’s match. He wore a bright yellow Colombia jersey to match his family.
Zuniga, 68, came to the U.S. to spend time with his family and found community with the other Colombia fans in attendance.
Fans of other teams made it clear that just because their favorite teams weren’t playing in Saturday’s match, they still were going to have a good time.
-Michael Butler
Miami Gardens teen is flag-bearer
The flag-bearer portion of the 2026 World Cup matches is new, but a Miami Gardens native was a part of the elaborate ceremony.
High-school student Devon Georges was one of the flag-bearers for Saturday’s match and was shocked to get the call to do it from his mentor, Big Brothers Big Sisters Miami President and CEO Gale Nelson.
“When Gale told me I would be a flag-bearer, I asked, ‘What is that?’ ” Georges, 18, said.
Georges was one of 70 volunteers who helped carry the England and France national flags onto the field. Each massive flag covered 21,000 square feet, or nearly half of the stadium’s field.
Fireworks representing both teams’ national colors blasted off into the humid air as Georges and the other volunteers helped carry the flags away.
-Michael Butler
Read the full story: How a SLAM student was tapped to be a flag bearer in Miami’s last World Cup match
For those who don’t get why there’s a match for third place
Surely, the French and English teams would love nothing more than a vacation at this point, a chance to relax, reunite with family and friends and bury those losses underneath all the great memories that they have of their impressive World Cup runs. Instead, they must find a way to get motivated and lace their boots up one more time.
Why, you ask, is there a third-place game? Why not just move on with it after the semis? People have been asking that for many years, including England coach Thomas Tuchel.
-Michelle Kaufman
Read the full story: Seven reasons the France-England World Cup third-place match in Miami matters
If you have a ticket
To start, we have a comprehensive guide with everything you need to know about today’s match for those who have tickets with tips on getting to the stadium, parking, what kind of bags you can bring inside, what kind of instruments, flags and signs you can bring into the stadium — anything you can think of.
Important info for any ticket-holder who also purchased a parking pass: In addition to the electronic pass that you received, you must print and display the pass included in an email on your windshield. Only cars with these passes can access roads near the stadium. So, you will need an electronic ticket, an electronic parking pass and a printed out road access pass that goes on your windshield/dashboard.
-- Michelle Kaufman
Read the story: Going to a World Cup game at Miami Stadium? Here’s everything you need to know
Watch parties
For the rest of us mere mortals who plan to watch the match on a screen, there are so many options around town to watch with soccer fans, from the official Fan Fest in Bayfront Park, to municipal watch parties to parties hosted at bars and restaurants that feature food and drink specials.
Read the full stories:
How to watch the World Cup in Miami away from the stadium. See the choices
Hotels aren’t completely booked, but they cashed in on game nights
Miami hotels are getting a World Cup bump, but not because they are always overflowing with fans.
New data from CoStar, a commercial real estate information company, shows that on game nights Miami hotels increased their revenue per room from last year during the same time, even while occupancy rates only increased marginally or sometimes not at all.
Read the full story: Miami hotels weren’t full on game nights but still cashed in on World Cup
This story was originally published July 18, 2026 at 3:36 PM.
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