MIAMI – England dominated the first half, racing to a 4-0 lead through goals from Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and a first-half brace by Bukayo Saka. Rice opened the scoring in the third minute before Konsa doubled the advantage in the 18th minute. Saka then struck in the 37th minute and added his second in first-half stoppage time (45+1).

France mounted a spirited comeback after the break, with Kylian Mbappe scoring twice and Bradley Barcola adding another to reduce the deficit to 4-3. Mbappe found the net in the 48th and 54th minutes, while Barcola scored in the 66th minute.

Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 87th minute to restore England’s two-goal cushion. Ousmane Dembele pulled one back for France in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but Jude Bellingham sealed England’s victory with a goal in the 98th minute, taking his World Cup tally to seven goals.

The victory marks England’s first-ever third-place finish at the FIFA World Cup and its best tournament result since lifting the trophy on home soil in 1966. England had previously lost both of its third-place playoff appearances, falling 2-1 to host nation Italy in 1990 and 2-0 to Belgium at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The French national team has won two matches and lost two out of the four matches it has previously played in the bronze medal competition, having defeated Germany 6-3 in 1958, Belgium 4-2 in 1986, while losing to Poland 2-3 in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, and finally losing to England in Miami.