7/18/2026

England and France have met 3 times in the World Cup. England won in 1966 and 1982 both of those being in the group stage. France won in the quarterfinals at the last World Cup in 2022. England has never won a 3rd place match finishing 4th in their 2 chances. France took 3rd in 1958 and 1986 while finishing 4th to Poland in 1982.

England vs France for 3rd Place

England came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Declan Rice got the 3 Lions on the board in the 3rd minute of the match. He picked off a bad pass, settled the ball and fired a shot from just outside the penalty area. 

Rice got an assist in the 18th on a corner that was headed home by Ezri Konsa for the 2-0 lead.

France was happy when the whistle blew for the hydration break. Their back line was out of sorts and were on their heels from the start. 

England scored again in the 37th when Marcus Rashford assisted Bukayo Saka after putting on a passing clinic to get through the French defense. That was also the 300th goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Saka scored again a minute into the first half stoppage time. Eberechi Eze found him making a run and the winger hit the bottom right corner of the net. 

Halftime England 4 France 0

The second half started and the France team everyone feared through the tournament showed up. Michael Olise tied Pele’s world cup record in the 48th minute. Olise’s assist went to Kylian Mbappe who took the lead over Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot with 9 goals. 

Mbappe gets an assist in the 54th to cut the lead in half. His pass to Bradley Barcola started to swing the momentum in France’s way.

A double record was set in the 67th minute. Kylian Mbappe moved one goal ahead of Messi for most goals in World Cup history with 22. The second record was Michael Olise and his record breaking 7th assist the most in a single World Cup. 

France got a couple of really good looks both by Olise but couldn’t find the back of the net. 

England went back up 2 goals on a penalty kick in the 87th minute. Djed Spence got taken down in the penalty area. Jude Bellingham looked like he was preparing to shoot before handing the ball to Bukayo Saka. Saka scored for his hat trick and gave England a 2 goal cushion.

Les Bleues Ousmane Dembele scored 6 minutes into the 2nd half stoppage time. Cutting the lead to 5-4 keeping the French hopes of the greatest comeback ever alive.

It was Jude Bellingham who subbed in in the 79th slamming the door shut 2 minutes later after weaving around multiple defenders. For the final goal of the match. 

Final England 6, France 4

England takes 3rd place with a 6-4 win over France in what could be one of the greatest matches in World Cup history. England wins their first ever 3rd place World Cup trophy and France set 2 incredible records during their run at this World Cup. 

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