Bellingham seals England's third-place World Cup win over France

Jude Bellingham struck in stoppage time to complete England’s 6-4 win over France and secure the bronze medals at the 2026 World Cup in Miami Gardens, Florida. England had led 4-0 at halftime at Hard Rock Stadium before France turned the third-place playoff into a frantic, high-scoring finish.

The result gave England a third-place finish in a match that carried unusual weight for a consolation game. France and England both arrived after semifinal defeats, and the meeting still had a live individual prize attached, with Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane and Bellingham all in the hunt for the Golden Boot.

England’s first-half surge created the cushion that France could not erase. By the break, the match had been stretched far beyond the feel of a normal third-place playoff, and France’s response, sparked by Mbappé, turned the second half into a chase rather than a procession. The final scoreline settled at 6-4 after Bellingham’s late goal put the result beyond reach.

Bellingham’s finish mattered because it came after England had already shown control in midfield and then the composure to close out a game that had become chaotic. BBC Sport described his strike as the one that “rounded off third-place play-off win,” the goal that ensured England went home with the bronze medals after a match that had looked comfortable, then unstable, then settled again only in the final moments.

For England, the late goal was more than a final touch on a lopsided scoreline. It was the kind of stoppage-time finish that reflected a squad with enough authority to seize an early lead, absorb a surge from France, and still produce one more decisive action when the game was open. Bellingham, rather than simply decorating the score, ended it, and that placed him at the center of a night in which England’s midfield control and late-game ruthlessness separated the sides.