Blowing a 1-0 lead in the 85th minute to Argentina in the World Cup semifinals couldn't be outdone, could it? Well, England flirted with another crazy collapse on Saturday in the third-place match, nearly blowing a 4-0 lead, beating France 6-4 in the highest-scoring World Cup game since Hungary's 10-1 win over El Salvador in 1982.
What started as a laugher turned into an all-time rollercoaster on Saturday, with England surviving their own generosity. Bukayo Saka's stoppage-time penalty was the difference between a much-needed win and a collapse that would have lived in infamy. A team has never blown a four-goal lead at the World Cup, but England looked well on their way with Michael Olise missing an absolutely golden chance in front of goal to bring the game level.
The Three Lions raced out to a 4-0 lead and looked like they were about to cruise home with the win with Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Saka scoring, the latter twice in the opening half. Then France showed up. Kylian Mbappe scored twice as part of a stunning three-goal outburst to open the second half, and suddenly this thing had gone from blowout to crisis in the span of a few minutes. Mbappe's brace also pushed him to 21 World Cup goals for his career, moving him past Lionel Messi for the most in tournament history. Mbappe also became the first person to score double-digit goals at the World Cup since German legend Gerd Muller in 1970.
France smelled blood and kept coming, using both wings and short, quick passes in the middle, but they would miss chance after chance that could have leveled it. England's back line was hanging on by a thread, but this time, England coach Thomas Tuchel did not go all out with defensive substitutes, which was the main talking point in the failure to see out the lead versus Argentina, sweating out every cross and shot for the rest of the half.
Then, deep into stoppage time, Djed Spence won the penalty that saved England's night. Saka calmly slotted it home for his hat trick.
Just when you thought this game couldn't get crazier... Bukayo Saka gets his hat trick off the penalty to make it 5-3 🤯 pic.twitter.com/DetSlBpIkZ
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 18, 2026
The Three Lions escaped with third place and their nerves shot, still conceding in the final moments and then scoring through Jude Bellingham just to suffer a little bit more, with the Real Madrid man producing a ridiculous solo goal to slam the door shut:
ABSOLUTE MADNESS IN MIAMI AS JUDE BELLINGHAM PUTS ENGLAND UP 6-4 TO SEAL THE BRONZE MEDAL 🏴 pic.twitter.com/2hMBGTzE8d
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 18, 2026
With the result, England surpassed their fourth-place finish from the 2018 World Cup, producing their highest finish since the 1966 tournament that they won.
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