The English national team secured third place in the 2026 World Cup after defeating their French counterparts 6-4 in a thrilling match held early Sunday morning, which saw ten goals and major twists and turns.

The 'Three Lions' imposed their dominance from the early minutes and managed to end the first half with a clean 4-0 lead, opened by Declan Rice in the 3rd minute, before Ezri Konsa doubled the lead in the 18th minute. Bukayo Saka added the third goal in the 37th minute, and then the same player returned to conclude the first half with a fourth goal in stoppage time.

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Despite the large deficit, the French team came back differently at the start of the second half and managed to reduce the gap through their captain Kylian Mbappé, who scored two goals in the 48th and 54th minutes, before Bradley Barcola added the third goal in the 66th minute, igniting the match as it neared its end. As the 'Roosters' attempted to equalize, the English team earned a penalty in the 87th minute, which Bukayo Saka successfully converted into the fifth goal, securing his personal hat-trick. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Dembélé scored the fourth goal for France against England. As the Roosters tried again to score the equalizer, Bellingham managed to score the sixth goal for the English team, confirming England's victory and securing third place for his country.

The match witnessed a remarkable performance from Saka, who led England's attack with three goals, making him the man of the match, while the French team put in one of the strongest comeback attempts in the tournament, but it was not enough to avoid defeat.

Individually, Kylian Mbappé strengthened his lead in the 2026 World Cup scoring charts after raising his tally to 10 goals, opening a two-goal gap over his closest pursuer, Argentine captain Lionel Messi, who awaits the chance to reduce the deficit when he leads his country in the World Cup final against Spain this evening.