Football
Associated Press

England take home World Cup bronze after wild 6-4 win over France

11:40am
England players pose for a photograph after receiving their third place medals after their 6-4 win during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Bronze Final

Bukayo Saka scored three goals to lead England to a 6-4 win over France for third place in the World Cup, while Kylian Mbappé surpassed Lionel Messi's career World Cup scoring record and took the lead in the Golden Boot race with a pair of second-half goals on Sunday.

It was the highest-scoring World Cup game since Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982, and the 10 goals were the most in a third-place match.

Rampant England score 4 against France in first half - watch on TVNZ+

Saka had goals in the 37th minute and first-half stoppage time, then added his third on a penalty in the 87th for his second career hat trick with England.

England's Bukayo Saka (7) is congratulated by Jude Bellingham (10) and Reece James (24) after scoring his side's 5th goal from the penalty spot during the World Cup

The Three Lions also got goals from Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa to build a 4-0 halftime lead and secure their best finish in a World Cup since winning their only title in 1966.

England's Jude Bellingham capped the scoring in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time, his seventh goal of the tournament.

Mbappé reached 22 career goals, one more than Messi. The star striker finished this World Cup with 10 goals, two ahead of Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, which is awarded to the tournament’s top scorer.

Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé also scored for France.

Watch the FIFA World Cup final at 7am on Monday, July 20, live and free on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+

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