England survive a France rally to win a 10-goal third-place thriller

On Saturday in Miami Gardens, the match nobody circles on the calendar turned into the game of the tournament. England battered France 4-0 by half-time, then spent 45 minutes trying to give it back, and still won 6-4. Ten goals in one afternoon, the most in a World Cup match since 1982, in a fixture two beaten semi-finalists supposedly do not care about.

England romp, then remember they are mortal

The first half was a mismatch. Declan Rice scored inside three minutes, Ezri Konsa nodded a second on 18, and then Bukayo Saka helped himself to two before the break. Four-nil, a completed rout, France looking like they wanted the bus started early. Whatever Didier Deschamps said at the interval, it worked far too well.

Kylian Mbappé pulled one back moments after the restart. Bradley Barcola made it 4-2 on 54, Mbappé curled in his second on 66, and a dead rubber suddenly had the neutrals out of their seats at 4-3. England, to their credit, stopped the bleeding: Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot on 87 after Djed Spence was hauled down, and Jude Bellingham stabbed in a sixth deep into stoppage time. Ousmane Dembélé’s late reply only made 6-4 look kinder to France than the 90 minutes were.

Mbappé climbs the charts on his way out the door

There was a personal footnote in the wreckage. Mbappé’s double moved him past Lionel Messi at the top of the World Cup’s all-time scoring chart, according to the match reports, though the caveat writes itself: Messi walks out for the final today and can take it straight back. Two of the game’s biggest names, chasing the same record on consecutive days. You could not script it, though someone clearly tried.

Third-place playoff: England 6-4 France, four up at the break and hanging on at the death.

Third place settled, the tournament saves its last act for today: Spain against Argentina, the final everyone actually wanted. See how the bracket finished on the live table.

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