England beat France 6-4 to claim World Cup third place

England beat France 6-4 in the World Cup third-place match at Miami Stadium in Miami Gardens, a bronze-medal game that became far more open than the label suggested. The result gave England third place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and closed Didier Deschamps’ final match in charge of Les Bleus, while Kylian Mbappé kept chasing the Golden Boot.

The game was staged on Saturday, July 18, 2026, with kickoff listed at 10:00 PM Miami Stadium time, and some listings also showing 5:00 PM ET and 10:00 PM BST. France arrived after losing to Spain in the semifinals, and England came in off a painful defeat to Argentina, a backdrop that helped explain why a fixture often treated as a consolation prize produced 10 goals instead of caution.

That is the tension built into the bronze final, sometimes called the chocolate-medal match: it carries less prestige than the semifinal that came before it, but it still brings out individual incentives. Mbappé entered the night in the Golden Boot race, and Reuters noted that he had called France “sloppy” after the semifinal loss. On the England side, Thomas Tuchel said his players carried the “scars” of their own elimination, even though the FA has already kept him in charge through Euro 2028.

The scoreline also exposed how much attacking talent sat on both benches and how vulnerable both defenses became once the game lost its tournament-edge discipline. CBS Sports Golazo had framed Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Mbappé as the central names in the matchup, and Désiré Doué added another layer of quality for France. England’s six goals suggested a side capable of overwhelming opponents when Bellingham and Kane are central to the attack, while France’s four conceded underlined how quickly its structure unraveled without the urgency of a knockout prize.

The wider history makes the result even sharper. In 32 meetings between the countries, England have now won 17, France 10 and five have ended level, with England scoring 66 goals to France’s 41 in the rivalry. England leave Miami with third place, but the more revealing detail is the scale of the scoring: Tuchel’s side showed enough firepower to bury a major opponent, even as the 6-4 finish reminded them how much work remains before that attack can be trusted in a title game.