Saka hat-trick fires England to World Cup bronze in a 6-4 thriller with France
England raced four goals clear, survived a France fightback led by Kylian Mbappe, and won the World Cup third-place play-off 6-4 in Miami. Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick sent Didier Deschamps into retirement with a defeat.
Jul 19, 2026
Ten goals, a hat-trick and a comeback that fell just short. England signed off from the 2026 World Cup with a bronze medal after beating France 6-4 in a third-place play-off at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, a game that swung so wildly it made the two semi-finals feel tame.
Four goals in and cruising
For 45 minutes England were irresistible. Declan Rice opened the scoring inside three minutes, Ezri Konsa nodded in a second on 18, and Bukayo Saka struck twice before the break, the second in first-half stoppage time, to put Thomas Tuchel’s side 4-0 up. Beaten by Argentina in the semi-final three days earlier, England played the bronze match with the handbrake off.
Mbappe drags France back in
France, and Kylian Mbappe in particular, had other ideas. The captain pulled one back three minutes into the second half, Bradley Barcola made it 4-2 on 54 minutes, and when Mbappe struck again on 66 the gap was down to a single goal. A match that had looked dead at half-time was suddenly alive, France swarming forward in search of an equaliser that would have capped one of the great World Cup fightbacks.
Saka had the answer. The winger completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot on 87 minutes to restore England’s two-goal cushion and take the sting out of the French pressure. Ousmane Dembele’s finish in the sixth minute of stoppage time briefly cut it to 5-4, but Jude Bellingham settled it for good in the eighth added minute, rolling in England’s sixth.
England’s best since 1966
Third place is England’s first World Cup bronze and their best finish at the tournament since they won it on home soil in 1966. Fourth in 1990 and again in 2018, they had never previously won a third-place play-off. For all the sting of another semi-final defeat, Tuchel’s players ended a major tournament on a win, and with Saka’s name in lights.
Deschamps bows out
For France it was the end of an era. The defeat was Didier Deschamps’ final match in charge after 14 years, the coach who lifted the 2018 World Cup and reached the 2022 final stepping down as planned, with Zinedine Zidane expected to succeed him. Deschamps leaves on the back of another semi-final run, and Mbappe’s brace was a reminder of the talent his successor inherits.