England claimed third place at the World Cup by beating France 6-4 on Sunday morning, while Kylian Mbappe became the tournament’s all-time top scorer with 22 goals on coach Didier Deschamps’ last game after 14 years in charge.
England scored four in the first half through Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and a Bukayo Saka double, Saka completed his hat-trick with an 87th-minute penalty.
Mbappe scored two, either side of Bradley Barcola’s goal in the second half to take his tally to 10 at this World Cup and Ousmane Dembele netted France’s fourth six minutes into stoppage before Jude Bellingham added a sixth for England.
Mbappe leads the Golden Boot standings with two more goals than Argentina forward Messi who is preparing to play in Sunday’s final against Spain, by one goal in the all-time World Cup scoring charts.
Michael Olise has a World Cup record of seven assists, ahead of Pele’s six in 1970.
France recovered from a shambolic start after Deschamps brought in Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Digne to reinforce a disoriented back four
FIFA World Cup 2026 | England beat France 6-4 to finish third in World Cup#sabcnews pic.twitter.com/YHXY0FncS5
— SABC News (@SABCNews) July 18, 2026
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