Mbappe Overtakes Messi As England Sink Fran…

England secured the bronze medal at the 2026 FIFA World after defeating France 6-4 in a thrilling third/fourth play-off encounter on Saturday night.

Fixture: France v England
Score: 4-6
Goalscorers: Mbappe (48′, 66′), Barcola (54′), Dembele (90+6′) / Rice (3′), Konsa (18′), Saka (37, 45+1′, 87′), Bellingham (90+6′)

Three Lions coach Thomas Tuchel rang the changes for the encounter as Declan Rice, Djed Spence and Marc Guehi were the only players to keep their spot in the starting line-up while France coach Didier Deschamps kept Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise.

The decision to leave Rice in the side paid off inside the opening three minutes when the midfielder intercepted a loose ball and surged towards the box before curling one into the far corner for his first World Cup goal.

It got better for the Three Lions after 18 minutes when they doubled their lead, as Rice turned provider from the corner to pick out Ezri Konsa, who rose above Adrien Rabiot and sent a fine header into the far corner.

After a slow start to the contest, France came alive after the hydration break with Mbappe and Olise getting more of the ball higher up the pitch but it was England who went on to grab another goal eight minutes before the halftime break when Marcus Rashford turned provider to tee up Bukayo Saka to fire home from close range.

A disastrous first half continued for Les Blues, who were left shell-shocked after England were able to add a fourth goal in first-time stoppage when Saka completed his brace with another composed finish.

That all changed in the second period as Deschamps’ final team talk, coupled with four changes at the interval, looked to have put some fire in the side, as Mbappe pulled one back three minutes in with his ninth goal of the tournament before substitute Bradley Barcola made it 4-2 all inside the opening 10 minutes.

The French were not done there as Mbappe managed to reduce the deficit once again after combining with Olise before firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the box and in doing so, became the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 22 goals, moving one ahead of Lionel Messi.

However, any hopes of a France comeback was ended in the 87th minute when England were awarded a penalty for Malu Gusto’s foul on Spence in the box. Saka stepped up and calmly slotted home to complete his hat-trick.

The match which many dubbed as a ‘dead-rubber’ turned out to be the highest-scoring game at the tournament as Ousmane Dembele bagged France’s fourth goal in second-half stoppage time before Jude Bellingham rounded off the scoring for England to make it 6-4.

Key Performer:

Saka certainly made the most of his first start in the competition by bagging a hat-trick, converting three of his four shots in a very clinical display.

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