England Beats France 6-4 to Claim World Cup Bronze Medal

England beat France 6-4 in a breathless World Cup third-place match on Saturday night, securing the country’s best men’s finish since it won the tournament outright in 1966. Bukayo Saka scored a hat trick, Jude Bellingham struck a stunning solo goal off the bench, and Thomas Tuchel, England’s head coach, closed out a week of jeers with a bronze medal. The scoreline swung from 4-0 at halftime to 4-3 before England pulled clear again in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The party atmosphere hid three real questions that Saturday’s match quietly answered. Kylian Mbappe’s Golden Boot math, Didier Deschamps’ 14-year France exit, and Thomas Tuchel’s already-settled contract all had something riding on a game both benches supposedly wanted no part of.

England Score Four, Then Have to Hang On

Declan Rice opened the scoring after three minutes, and Ezri Konsa doubled the lead soon after. Bukayo Saka added two more before the break, and England walked in at halftime four goals up on a France side that barely competed for 45 minutes.

France woke up. Mbappe led a second-half fightback that pulled France level with the clock working against England, and the game turned into an end-to-end shootout neither side seemed interested in stopping.

1. 3rd minute: Declan Rice opens the scoring for England.
2. Before halftime: Ezri Konsa and a Bukayo Saka brace push England to a 4-0 lead.
3. 66th minute: France claw back to 4-3 as Mbappe leads the fightback, with 24 minutes left on the clock.
4. 79th minute: Jude Bellingham enters as a substitute.
5. Penalty won: Bellingham’s pass sends Djed Spence away on the overlap, Spence is fouled, and Saka converts to complete his hat trick and make it 5-3.
6. 5-4: Ousmane Dembele pulls one back for France with a fine finish.
7. 6-4: Bellingham finishes a driving solo run to seal the win.

The match produced 38 shots in total, 19 for each side, with 20 on target, numbers that read more like a pickup game than a World Cup fixture.

Did This Game Decide the Golden Boot?

Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi entered the day’s two matches tied on eight tournament goals apiece, with Messi holding the tiebreaker on assists. Saturday’s third-place game was Mbappe’s last chance to add to his total, since France’s tournament ended in Miami while Messi still has Sunday’s final to respond.

Entering the day, Messi and Mbappe were tied on eight goals each, with Messi ahead on the first tiebreaker after racking up four assists to Mbappe’s three. Mbappe pipped Messi for the Golden Boot in 2022 with a hat trick in that final. This time the roles could reverse depending on what happens at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

Jude Bellingham’s solo goal in Miami moved him to seven for the tournament, one more than the six he carried into kickoff and level with teammate Harry Kane entering the day. Neither England forward can add to that tally now that the Three Lions’ World Cup is finished.

Kane’s tournament ended without adding to his six, meaning both England forwards finish behind whatever the Messi-Mbappe duel produces on Sunday.

Deschamps’ Rough Way to Go

Saturday was Didier Deschamps’ final match in charge of France, closing a tenure that began in 2012 and included the 2018 World Cup title. He announced before this tournament that he would step aside regardless of how France finished, and a limp opening half in Miami was a strange last note for a coach who now holds more World Cup wins (20) and more knockout-stage wins (10) than anyone else in the competition’s history.

“In 2026 it will be over,” Deschamps said of his own timeline back in early 2025, long before this tournament’s draw was made. Off the pitch, French federation president Philippe Diallo had already told a French newspaper he knew who would replace him, though he stopped short of naming names at the time.

• What’s confirmed: Deschamps is leaving after 14 years, Saturday’s match was his farewell game, and his 2018 title remains the high point of a tenure that also reached two other World Cup finals.
• What’s confirmed: ESPN reported in March that Zinedine Zidane reached a verbal agreement with the French federation to take over, and France plays six Nations League fixtures before the end of 2026.

• What’s unconfirmed: Zidane has never been officially unveiled as Deschamps’ successor, and the federation has not set a date for any announcement.
• What’s unconfirmed: Whether Zidane, who has never managed a national team, will be the one picking the squad for those Nations League fixtures this fall.

Tuchel Never Needed This Bronze to Keep His Job

Tuchel called the medal proof his players could be proud of, but the FA had settled his future months before a ball was kicked. He signed a contract extension in February that runs to Euro 2028, a deal that survived the Argentina defeat entirely intact.

It is the first medal in 60 years, the best World Cup on foreign soil, so I hope the players can be proud of that in some time.

Tuchel said after the final whistle in Miami Gardens.

Contract talks moved fast partly because Manchester United had just sacked Ruben Amorim and speculation had linked Tuchel to Old Trafford. Reports at the time described performance clauses tied to the new deal, but FA chief executive Mark Bullingham made clear the federation was not waiting on a result. “We’ve appointed him with a view to him being our coach for 2028,” Bullingham said when the extension was announced.

That timeline matters more than the scoreline in Miami. Sources told ESPN the FA intended to keep Tuchel through Euro 2028 even after the Argentina semifinal loss, days before Saturday’s third-place kickoff. The bronze gave Tuchel a talking point. It did not change a decision the federation made in February.

England’s Bad Habit in These Games, Broken

England had been here before, and it went badly. The last time the Three Lions played a third-place match, they lost 2-0 to Belgium in 2018 in a performance widely criticized for lacking spirit. Saturday’s version had the opposite problem, too much spirit and nowhere near enough defending.

France exposed the same weakness Argentina found in the semifinal. Against Argentina, England surrendered 93 percent possession in the 21 minutes after Tuchel switched to a back five. Against France, a four-goal cushion nearly disappeared in a similar spell before Bellingham’s introduction settled things down.

England’s route through this tournament was rarely comfortable, from a 3-2 escape act that eliminated Mexico at Azteca to Wednesday’s stoppage-time collapse against Argentina in Atlanta. Tuchel, speaking before Saturday’s game, called reaching a second semifinal in eight years an achievement in itself, even one that ended in heartbreak.

New Jersey Has the Last Kickoff

Miami’s medal ceremony felt hollow by comparison to what comes next. England FA chair Debbie Hewitt hugged Harry Kane and the squad before they posed for photos, unsure whether to crouch or kneel. Spain plays Argentina in Sunday’s final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. ET.

Opta’s supercomputer gives Spain a 45.1 percent chance of winning in regulation, against 29.4 percent for Argentina, ahead of a match carrying the tournament’s first Super Bowl style halftime show. The U.S. president is expected to attend and present the trophy.

New York and New Jersey regulators have already subpoenaed FIFA over World Cup ticket pricing, a dispute that follows the tournament’s biggest crowd of the summer into East Rutherford. Zidane, meanwhile, waits for his own kickoff. Once Sunday’s final ends, Deschamps hands off a France squad that just watched its World Cup close in a fashion nobody in blue will want to relive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Kylian Mbappe or Lionel Messi win the World Cup Golden Boot?

That was still unresolved entering Sunday’s final. Messi and Mbappe were tied on tournament goals with Messi ahead on assists; if both tiebreakers stay level, the award goes to whichever player logged fewer minutes on the pitch.

How many World Cup titles has France won?

Two. France won its first as a nation in 1998 and its second in 2018 under Didier Deschamps, who also played on the 1998 winning squad before later coaching the team.

Has Zinedine Zidane ever managed a national team before?

No. His entire coaching career has come at club level with Real Madrid, including three consecutive Champions League titles, which would make a France appointment his first job in international management.

Could Thomas Tuchel still be removed as England manager despite the FA’s backing?

It is possible but considered unlikely. His contract extension includes performance-related clauses that could reduce compensation if targets are missed, though the FA has not confirmed whether the deal contains an outright break clause.

When did England last reach a World Cup semifinal before this year?

In 2018, in Russia, under Gareth Southgate. Tuchel himself noted that Saturday’s third-place game followed England’s second semifinal appearance in eight years.