Match report
Saka hat-trick powers England past France in 10-goal thriller
England beat France 6-4 in the World Cup third-place final, a match that swung wildly after a stunning first half put the outcome seemingly beyond doubt before a French recovery threatened to turn it on its head. Declan Rice opened the scoring after just three minutes, and by half-time England led 4-0.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Ezri Konsa, assisted by Rice, doubled the advantage in the 18th minute, before Bukayo Saka struck twice either side of the interval, converting a Marcus Rashford assist and then a stoppage-time chance from Eberechi Eze to make it 4-0 at the break. France responded rapidly after the restart as Kylian Mbappé, set up by Michael Olise, pulled one back in the 48th minute, and Bradley Barcola made it 2-4 six minutes later with Mbappé turning provider.
Mbappé completed his brace in the 66th minute, again assisted by Olise, to bring France within one goal at 3-4. Saka restored England's two-goal cushion from the penalty spot in the 87th minute, but Ousmane Dembélé, teed up by Dayotchanculle Upamecano, scored deep into stoppage time to make it 4-5. Jude Bellingham settled the contest in the 90+8th minute to complete the 4-6 scoreline.
France dominated possession at 54 percent and matched England shot for shot with 19 apiece, but England were the sharper side in front of goal, edging the expected-goals count at 2.87 to 2.58 despite conceding more of the ball.
Mbappé scored twice and set up another as France mounted their second-half comeback, finishing with a match rating of 9.9. Saka, meanwhile, scored a hat-trick including a decisive late penalty for England.
Despite having 54 percent of possession, France could not turn their control of the ball into a winning outcome.
England won 6–4 away against France (half-time 0–4).
France met England in the World Cup (3rd Place Final). Kick-off was Saturday, 18 July 2026, 21:00 UTC at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Garden. Referee: Jesús Valenzuela.
Key moments
- 3' Goal: Declan Rice — 0–1 · Watch Declan Rice's goal video (3')
- 18' Goal: Ezri Konsa (assist: Declan Rice) — 0–2
- 37' Goal: Bukayo Saka (assist: Marcus Rashford) — 0–3
- 45' Goal: Bukayo Saka (assist: Eberechi Eze) — 0–4
- 48' Goal: Kylian Mbappé (assist: Michael Olise) — 1–4
- 54' Goal: Bradley Barcola (assist: Kylian Mbappé) — 2–4
- 66' Goal: Kylian Mbappé (assist: Michael Olise) — 3–4
- 87' Goal (penalty): Bukayo Saka — 3–5
- 90' Goal: Ousmane Dembélé (assist: Dayot Upamecano) — 4–5
- 90' Goal: Jude Bellingham — 4–6
Starting line-ups
France (4-2-3-1)
England (4-1-4-1)
- 13 Dean Henderson
- 25 Djed Spence
- 6 Marc Guéhi
- 2 Ezri Konsa
- 26 Jarell Quansah
- 4 Declan Rice (c)
- 11 Marcus Rashford
- 21 Eberechi Eze
- 17 Morgan Rogers
- 7 Bukayo Saka
- 22 Ivan Toney
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave France 44%, the draw 24%, England 32%. It finished France 4–6 England.
A slight rating edge to France, no home ground in play — France are a shade stronger on our strength rating, and England's hot finishing due to cool on top gives France the lean. The draw at 24% is nudged down by the same factors that shape the win chances.
Why France at 44%?
France sit 67 points higher on our strength rating — 2131 to 2064. Sides with a 50–100-point rating edge at home won 50.5% of 10,261 such games. England scored +0.57 goals per game beyond chance-quality lately — hot streaks like that have cooled off. Visitors running this hot went on to win 29.2% of 1,409 games, vs 28.9% for visitors finishing normally.
Why only 44%?
A final at a neutral venue: France lose the usual home lift, so the class read is re-centred. On grounds we detect as neutral, listed-home sides won 44.6% of 26,621 games vs 45.2% at real homes.
Why the draw at 24%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 26.5%. These teams' recent games average 3.1 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.5% of 24,574. The cool-off factor takes 2.3 points off the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
France scored +0.40 goals per game beyond chance-quality — home sides this hot gave some of it back. Opponents of hot-finishing home sides won 28.2% of 1,428 games, vs 28.0% against normal finishing. France (19 fully-tracked matches with us) and England (22) carry strength ratings anchored to the official international ratings list, so the class read stands on far more than our own short records. National sides play too few games for a record built from scratch, so their rating chain starts from the published international ratings instead of a blind first guess.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
What the press said
🥉🏴 England are officially 3rd at the 2026 World Cup! France finish 4th. 🇫🇷 Historical day for Mbappé as World Cup top scorer ever, 22 goals. 👑 No one delivered more assists in a single WC campaign than Michael Olise, with 7. 🪄 Hat-trick for Bukayo Saka. 🌶️ Your MOTM? https://t.co/Xhja2WRNbo
🚨🏅 OFFICIAL: Bukayo Saka, Man of the Match for England-France. https://t.co/aWe4DOoBxb
FT: England 6 France 4. England win a thrilling bronze final despite a France fightback in the second half. Bukayo Saka with a hat-trick. Declan Rice with a superb opener and Ezri Konsa also on the scoresheet. England 4-0 up at half-time before France clawed back to 4-3. Kylian Mbappe with a brace to become the all-time World Cup scorer with 22 goals. Michael Olise also got two assists to take his tournament tally to a record seven. Saka's late penalty gave England breathing space. Yet Ousmane Dembele got another goal for France in injury time before Jude Bellingham killed off the game. Seven World Cup goals for Bellingham. No Englishman has scored more at a single tournament. Third place for England in the highest-scoring third-place match ever. England's highest men's World Cup finish since winning the tournament in 1966.🏴🇫🇷
About this match
On this page: the France vs England final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this World Cup fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from France 4–6 England. Explore more on the France and England team pages or the World Cup page.