England Wins Bronze Thriller
England fans celebrated a record-breaking 6-4 victory over France in the 2026 FIFA World Cup third-place play-off, as the two losing semi-finalists produced an extraordinary 10-goal thriller in Miami on Saturday.
The result saw England take home the bronze medal, securing their best World Cup finish since winning the tournament in 1966.
Fans Celebrate Goal Frenzy
Footage shows England and France supporters in national shirts, carrying flags as they headed to Hard Rock Stadium before the match. Police officers guard the area as a helicopter circles overhead.
“The game was great. Highly competitive, high scoring. So it was exciting. A lot of open-ended action. It’s fantastic. Couldn’t have been better,” fan John Fabian said.
“This game so far, it was way above the expectations of everybody,” fellow supporter Anthony Machuca added. “It was ten goals in the game. So yes, it was the best so far.”
Mbappe Chases Golden Boot
Despite seven changes from the team that blew its lead over wily Argentina in the semi, the Three Lions raced into a 4-0 half-time lead. Captain-for-the-day Declan Rice opened the scoring with a fine strike from distance, before turning provider for a flicked header by Ezri Konsa. Bukayo Saka then scored a brace, as France struggled to deal with England’s movement.
France fought to save their blushes after the break, cutting the deficit to 4-3 after an Kilian Mbappe brace and a crashing Bradley Barcola finish, before Man of the Match Saka eased England ahead, completing his hat-trick from the spot. France scored again in injury time through Ousmane Dembele to reduce the arrears, but substitute Jude Bellingham quickly put the game to bed, calmly slaloming through the Les Bleues defence to slot home England’s record sixth.
England Ends Campaign Strong
“The game. Oh, it was incredible. It was four-nothing. What’s the chance of that in the first half being four-nothing? Then it’s 4-3. Amazing,” Jack Stachl said. “The better team actually won.”
“Expecting maybe we wouldn’t be able to rebound from the Argentina game, but we responded well. I think it’s kind of a good way to end off the World Cup,” Rick Dahlawl said.
Despite being roundly beaten, the two-goals for France star Kylian Mbappe saw their talisman move to 10 goals at the tournament, to lead Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot rankings ahead of Sunday’s final. It also takes his career World Cup tally to a record 22 goals, one ahead of Messi.
“He’s fighting for the Golden Boot for the World Cup. And he ended up scoring today,” Machuca said. “The French team was going to try a little bit more and try to help them out and score goals, and they ended up losing, but they still got a score.”
Two assists for France’s Michael Olise saw the player born and raised in England break Brazil legend Pele’s record seven during a World Cup.
The victory gave England a positive end to their campaign after outrage over officiating and tactics in the semi-final defeat by Argentina.
Article by Viory
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