France vs England third place play-off final score was France 4-6 England at Miami Stadium. Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick. Mbappe scored twice. Bellingham scored in the 90+8th minute. Dembele scored in the 90+6th. Ten goals. England finish third at a World Cup for the first time since 1966.
Published: July 19, 2026 | Category: FIFA World Cup 2026 | Author: Hemim SK
France 4-6 England.
Ten goals. Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick. Declan Rice scoring in the third minute — the same midfielder whose substitution ended England’s semi-final four days ago scoring the first goal of England’s most goals-heavy World Cup match since the modern era. Mbappé with two — because of course he did, because the Golden Boot race with Messi means every game matters now. Barcola. Dembélé in the 90+6th, still fighting for something that had already been decided. Bellingham in the 90+8th, because Bellingham always finds the last word.
Ten goals. In the match nobody wanted to play.
Here is what nobody tells you about the third place play-off. The official narrative around it is almost entirely negative. Players do not want to play it. Managers find motivation for it difficult. Fans watch it as consolation rather than ambition. It is the match that rewards losing semi-finalists with a game they did not ask for in a tournament where only the final matters.
And then sometimes — very rarely, unpredictably — the pressure is released just enough, the stakes are slightly lowered just enough, and two teams with extraordinary talent and nothing left to prove suddenly remember why they play football. They attack. They take risks. They shoot when they might normally pass and pass when they might normally hold.
France and England at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on July 19, 2026, three hours before Spain and Argentina contested the World Cup Final in New Jersey — produced the most entertaining match of the entire tournament. In the match nobody asked for. Between two teams who would both have given anything to be elsewhere. With ten goals and a Saka hat-trick and Bellingham at 90+8.
This is that match’s story. Told properly.
France vs England — Match Facts
Final Score: France 4-6 England
Date: Saturday July 19, 2026
Venue: Miami Stadium (Hard Rock Stadium), Miami Gardens, Florida
Third Place Play-Off — FIFA World Cup 2026
Goals:
England — D. Rice 3′
England — E. Konsa 18′
England — B. Saka 37′
England — B. Saka 45+1′
France — K. Mbappé 48′
France — B. Barcola 54′
France — K. Mbappé 66′
England — B. Saka 87′ (Penalty)
France — O. Dembélé 90+6′
England — J. Bellingham 90+8′
England finish 3rd at World Cup 2026 — their best finish since winning the tournament in 1966.
France finish 4th.
Man of the Match: Bukayo Saka (hat-trick, constant danger throughout)
Golden Boot update: Mbappé moves to 10 goals. Messi needs to match or surpass this in the final.
The First Half — England’s Most Complete 45 Minutes
Declan Rice in the third minute. Of all the ways this match could have started, Rice opening the scoring — four days after his substitution was the talking point that defined England’s semi-final defeat to Argentina — was the moment that felt like football’s specific brand of accidental justice.
Rice received a lay-off from Kane just outside France’s penalty area, took one touch to set himself and drove a low, powerful strike across Maignan into the far corner. England 1-0 France. Three minutes played. The same midfielder whose exit from the Argentina match created the space Enzo Fernandez needed to equalise was now scoring the first goal of England’s final match of the tournament.
Konsa headed a second from a Saka corner in the 18th minute — the Aston Villa defender arriving at the back post with perfect timing for his first ever England goal, at a World Cup, in the third place play-off, in Miami. Football gives these moments to people when they are least expected.
Then came Saka.
His first goal, in the 37th minute, was the kind of finish that defines his international career at its best — cutting inside from the right, shifting his weight to create space inside France’s penalty area and driving a left-footed strike low across Maignan before the goalkeeper could adjust. 3-0 England. France, who had beaten this England team’s semi-final opponents 2-0 in their own last four clash, were suddenly 3-0 down in the third place match with fifteen minutes of the half remaining.
Saka’s second arrived in first half stoppage time — a perfectly weighted through ball from Bellingham, a first touch that took Saka clear of France’s last defender, and a composed finish into the corner that made it 4-0 at the break.
Half time: England 4-0 France.
If you had offered either team this scoreline before kickoff, both would have been confused. This was not the plan. Neither team had a plan that involved 4-0. They just played.
The Second Half — France Find Themselves
Something changed at half time in France’s dressing room. Whatever Deschamps said in his final speech as France manager — this was, remember, the last match of fourteen years leading his country — it produced a response.
Mbappé scored in the 48th minute — a close-range finish after Barcola’s driving run created the initial chance. France 1-4. Barcola himself added a second in the 54th minute, France’s best player of the second half announcing himself with a direct run and a precise finish that Pickford could not reach. France 2-4. Suddenly the match had become interesting again.
Mbappé’s second, in the 66th minute, turned the scoreline to 3-4 and turned the crowd — which had been comfortably settled in an England evening — into a genuinely anxious collection of football fans wondering whether this match was about to produce the most extraordinary second-half comeback in the history of the third place play-off.
Mbappé’s brace takes his tournament total to ten goals. The same total as Messi heading into the final, played hours later in New Jersey. If Messi scores in the final, the Golden Boot goes to its assists tiebreaker. If Messi does not score, Mbappé wins the Golden Boot at the tournament that eliminated him in the semi-final. Football’s capacity for irony has no ceiling.
England’s response to France’s comeback was the specific character that Tuchel has built into this squad. They did not panic. They did not retreat into defensive protection at 3-4, inviting France forward. They continued to play and press and create — and when France’s goalkeeper made contact with Saka in the penalty area in the 87th minute, the penalty decision was straightforward.
Saka stepped up for England’s penalty. He had scored twice already. He placed it low to the left. Maignan dived right. England 5-3. Hat-trick. Saka’s World Cup hat-trick, completed from the penalty spot in the 87th minute of the third place play-off.
Then came Dembélé. In the 90+6th. France finding their own late goal, in a match they were losing by two, still fighting, still believing, because that is what this French team does — it keeps going until the whistle and sometimes beyond.
4-5. Two minutes of added time still to go.
Bellingham at 90+8.
Because of course it was Bellingham.
Bellingham at 90+8 — The Perfect Last Line
Jude Bellingham had been England’s best player across this entire tournament. His movement, his vision, his ability to arrive in the penalty area at the moment when the ball needed someone to arrive — these qualities have been the constant across every match from the group stage through to Miami on July 19.
His goal in the 90+8th minute — collecting a loose ball inside France’s penalty area after a corner was not properly cleared, controlling it with his first touch and firing a right-footed volley across Maignan — was not a surprise to anyone who has watched England play across this tournament. It was the inevitable ending of a performance that had been about everything except the scoreline.
England 6-4 France. Final score.
Not the match either team wanted. Exactly the match the tournament needed.
What England Finishing Third Actually Means
England have finished third at a World Cup for the first time since 1966 — the year they won it at Wembley, beating West Germany 4-2 in the final. That third-place finish sixty years ago was the consolation for the host nation in the era before the format was established as it is today.
This 2026 third place finish is the real thing. Bronze medal. Podium. The best finish by an England team at a World Cup in the professional era of the sport.
For Thomas Tuchel — who took charge of England at their lowest point of recent years and built, in eighteen months, a squad that reached the World Cup semi-final and finished third — this result is a significant achievement regardless of how the semi-final ended. He leaves Miami with England’s best tournament finish since Alf Ramsey.
For Harry Kane — who scored twice in the tournament without finding the defining individual moment his career has been building toward — the third place finish provides at least the platform of a medal. Not the final. Not the winner’s ceremony. But the podium. At 34 years old, with one more major tournament potentially available to him at Euro 2028, it is not the ending he hoped for. It is not nothing, either.
For Bukayo Saka — whose hat-trick today, combined with his performances across every match of this tournament — this World Cup has confirmed him as England’s most consistent, most important and most naturally gifted forward of his generation. He is 24 years old. He has just scored a hat-trick in a World Cup play-off match and was England’s best outfield player at the tournament. The next four years are his to define.
Deschamps’ Final Match — And What It Said About His Era
Didier Deschamps managed France for 14 years. He won the World Cup in 2018. He reached the final in 2022. He reached the semi-final in 2026. He managed 121 international matches — more than any other France manager in history.
His final match in charge produced a 4-6 defeat in the third place play-off. In an attacking, free-flowing, wide-open football match that was nothing like the organised, disciplined, controlled football he had made his management identity across fourteen years.
And somehow that feels right. Football is nothing if not unpredictable at the end of every story. The final chapter does not always match the narrative of the chapters before it. Deschamps spent fourteen years building the most organised international team in European football. His last match produced ten goals.
He left Hard Rock Stadium in Miami as the most successful France manager in history. Zidane takes over next.
The Golden Boot Before the Final
With Mbappé at ten goals after today, the Golden Boot race enters the World Cup Final in the most dramatic possible circumstances. Messi also has ten goals going into Spain vs Argentina at MetLife Stadium — played hours after this match concluded.
If Messi scores in the final: Messi wins the Golden Boot if he gets more than Mbappé, or the tiebreaker goes to assists if they stay level.
If Messi does not score: Mbappé wins the Golden Boot at the tournament where he lost in the semi-final — finishing as the competition’s top scorer despite France not being in the final.
The most competitive individual scoring race at any World Cup in the modern era — which has featured Messi and Mbappé trading the lead throughout — is now resolved by the match happening simultaneously across the country.
Need To Know
What was the France vs England score in the World Cup 2026 third place play-off?
France vs England final score was France 4-6 England in the World Cup 2026 third place play-off at Miami Stadium (Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami on July 19.
Who scored for England against France?
Declan Rice (3′), Ezri Konsa (18′), Bukayo Saka (37′, 45+1′, 87′ penalty — hat-trick) and Jude Bellingham (90+8′) scored for England.
Did Bukayo Saka score a hat-trick against France?
Yes — Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick against France in the World Cup 2026 third place play-off, with goals in the 37th, 45+1st and 87th (penalty) minutes.
Who scored for France against England?
Kylian Mbappé scored twice (48′ and 66′) and Bryan Barcola (54′) and Ousmane Dembélé (90+6′) also scored for France.
Is this England’s best World Cup finish since 1966?
Yes — England finishing third at World Cup 2026 is their best World Cup finish since winning the tournament in 1966.
How many goals did Mbappe score at World Cup 2026 in total?
Kylian Mbappé finished the 2026 World Cup with 10 goals — two scored in today’s third place play-off against England. His Golden Boot position depends on Messi’s performance in the World Cup Final.
Was this Didier Deschamps’ last match as France manager?
Yes — France 4-6 England in the third place play-off was Didier Deschamps’ final match as France manager after 14 years in charge. Zinedine Zidane has been confirmed as his successor.
Conclusion
France 4-6 England. Ten goals. Saka with three. Mbappé with two. Bellingham and Dembélé both scoring in the same minute of stoppage time from either side of the scoreline. Declan Rice opening the scoring four days after his substitution was the most discussed tactical moment of the tournament.
Nobody wanted this match. Neither team asked to be here. The third place play-off is the match football produces as consolation and almost everyone views as obligation.
And then France and England played it — without fear, without organisation, without the tactical discipline that made both teams so effective across the previous five weeks — and produced ten goals in Miami in the afternoon before the World Cup Final, and gave everyone watching a reason to be grateful that the match existed.
England finish third. Their best World Cup since 1966. Saka has a hat-trick from a World Cup play-off that nobody was supposed to care about. And somewhere in that gap between “nobody wanted this” and “nobody wanted it to end” is the specific magic of football that makes everything about this sport worth following.
Sixty years since 1966. Third place in 2026. Whatever comes next for England, they leave the 2026 World Cup having shown more than anyone expected and less than they hoped.
That is football. That is always football.
Read next: World Cup 2026 Final — Spain vs Argentina — Match Report
Related: England vs Argentina Semi-Final — The Tuchel Substitution Investigation
Related: France 0-2 Spain — Semi-Final Match Report
Related: World Cup 2026 Golden Boot Final Standings — Messi vs Mbappe
Was France 4-6 England the best match of World Cup 2026 — and does Saka’s hat-trick make him England’s greatest player of this tournament? Tell us in the comments below
