England took third place in the 2026 World Cup after beating France 4-6 this Saturday (07/18/2026) in a duel that seemed controlled from the first half by the English team, but suffered in the complementary part against the French power.

After the first 45 minutes, England left with a four-goal lead, but that became complicated in the second half with a double from Kylian Mbappé, and another two goals from Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé.

Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford destroyed France at the start with their speed, and each long pass from the English midfielders was a dangerous opportunity in the area for Mike Maignan, who conveyed zero confidence.

Only a carousel of changes at half-time changed the face of the French, who were on the verge of signing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the tournament.

Although they did not achieve it, they were able to celebrate that Mbappé, with his double, currently surpasses Messi as the top scorer in the World Cup with 22 goals. He also overtook him in the race for the Golden Boot of this tournament, with ten goals.

However, the Argentine star will have an additional bullet to surpass the Frenchman, when this Sunday he faces Spain in the World Cup final.

England tears apart France

The first part of the match showed a totally superior England, who only needed two passes in a row to exploit the central defenders’ backs, while France remained static, waiting for the minutes to pass.

Taking advantage of the French passivity, Declan Rice opened the scoring three minutes into the match with a shot from outside the area, and a quarter of an hour later Ezri Konsa finished off a corner kick that made it 0-2.

Although France also generated danger, especially through Mbappé who was wanted by his teammates, the goals only fell to the English side in the first half. Saka, with a double, made it 0-4 at halftime.

The face of Didier Deschamps, who this Saturday put an end to his time at the head of France in the most bitter way, was a poem, and he woke up his team by bringing on Dembélé and Barcola, in addition to retouching the defense.

The changes radically changed the match, which became a French monologue. The combination of Mbappé, Olise, Dembélé and Barcola in attack dismantled the English defense, and the three goals fell short.

Mbappé, twice, and Barcola, assisted by the Real Madrid player, made it 3-4, and only the lack of effectiveness of Olise, who missed two clear chances inside the area to tie, awarded England the bronze.

The Bayern Munich winger was more successful as a creator, and distributed his sixth and seventh assists of the tournament, surpassing Pelé’s record.

The French siege was complete, and when it seemed that the tie was about to come, Saka completed the hat-trick with a penalty and put an end to the fans’ hopes of extra time, who shouted for “one more goal” from France to reach extra time.

The street runner, however, continued until the final whistle. Dembélé and Jude Bellingham – who came on as a substitute – exchanged goals at half-time to close the first game with ten goals or more since Spain 1982.

mg (efe, afp)