England Defeats France 6-4 to Secure Third Place in 2026 FIFA World Cup
In Miami (USA), England beat France 6-4 this Saturday (18) and claimed third place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Highlights coming up shortly! Watch all the goals by clicking here!
The match, which even risked a delayed kickoff because of the threat of lightning in Florida, was complete madness, with a “rain of goals.”
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In the first half, the English took full advantage of the French side’s complete and total apathy and raced into a 4-0 lead.
The result was historic — in a bad way — for France. And it sparked plenty of mockery on social media!
It was the first time since 1930 that France went into halftime trailing by four goals.
In the very first World Cup in history, the French were down 5-1 to Belgium in the first half!
In 1953, against Switzerland (4-1 at halftime and 4-2 at full time), and against Yugoslavia in 1968 (4-1 at halftime and 5-1 at full time), those had been the only matches in which France conceded four first-half goals over the past 90 years!
After the break, though, France finally decided to “show up.”
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With his two goals against England (the first and the third), Kylian Mbappé reached 22 goals (in 22 matches) and became the outright TOP SCORER in World Cup history.
The French star, who is the top scorer of the 2026 World Cup with 10 goals, moved past Lionel Messi, who has 21 goals.
And Michael Olise, who assisted Mbappé on both goals, reached seven assists in a single World Cup edition.
The French forward surpassed Pelé, who had been the top “provider” at a World Cup, with six assists in 1970.
In the closing minutes, Saka scored England’s fifth goal and completed his hat-trick.
The Arsenal forward joined Geoff Hurst (1966), Gary Lineker (1986), and Harry Kane (2018) as the only English players to score three goals in a World Cup match!
In stoppage time, Dembélé and Jude Bellingham — with TWO STUNNERS — put the finishing touches on the MADNESS that unfolded in Miami in the third-place playoff!
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In the end, England’s 6-4 win over France set a NEW RECORD for goals in a World Cup third-place match, surpassing France’s 6-3 win over Germany in 1958.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.