Who says that third-place games in the FIFA World Cup don't matter? It may not mean much to you, but it clearly meant everything to England and France and it resulted in perhaps the craziest game in any sport of 2026.
In the first half it looks like we were gearing up for a beatdown of epic proportions with England exploding to a 4-0 halftime lead thanks to goals from Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and a brace from Bakayo Saka.
Then France took over.
In the second half, Les Bleus cut that deficit by 75-percent with two goals from Kylian Mbappe and another from Bradley Barcola in just over 20 minutes. England's bacon might have been saved by the hydration break, which slowed France's momentum.
In the 87th minute, France committed a penalty in England's box, which Saka took and converted for a hat trick and a 5-3 lead. But the game still wasn't over.
France's Ousmane Dembele scored a goal six minutes into stoppage time to make the game 5-4 England. Les Bleus seemed to be on the ropes in the waning seconds, but super sub Jude Bellingham ended the game with a goal two minutes later to make it 6-4 England as the referee called the final whistle.
© Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images.
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With 10 goals scored between the two teams, the game ranks as one of the highest-scoring games in World Cup history. Fans on X were thankful that the two teams put on such a great match despite there not being any titles on the line:
"10 goals. Now it's really over. 6–4. England finish third. Thanks to both sets of players for putting on an incredible show," one fan wrote.
"Greatest 3rd place game in World Cup history? 6-4 England wins over France. The highest scoring game in 44 years at the World Cup. Tied for the 5th highest scoring game in World Cup history. What an honor it was to watch that!" wrote another.
"I just saw the highest scoring World Cup match in my lifetime, easily the match of the tournament. 6-4 England, insane swings in momentum and after being down 0-4, it’s insane to say it, but France should have won that," a third declared.
Hopefully this game was just the warmup to an epic World Cup Final. It'll be nearly impossible for Spain and Argentina to top it, but maybe they can at least come close.
