England signed off from the 2026 FIFA World Cup with the bronze medal after a breathless 6-4 victory over France in Miami on Saturday, a match that lurched from one extreme to another and delivered one of the tournament’s wildest scorelines.

What had looked settled by half-time turned into a second-half scramble before England finally held on. Thomas Tuchel’s side stormed into a 4-0 lead inside 46 minutes, with Declan Rice striking in the third minute, Ezri Konsa heading in the second from a Rice corner in the 18th, and Bukayo Saka scoring twice before the break. The winger first reacted quickest after Marcus Rashford’s chance was saved in the 37th minute, then took Eberechi Eze’s through ball and finished low in first-half stoppage time to leave France reeling.

For long spells of that first half, England played with the sharpness and freedom that had been absent in their semi-final defeat to Argentina. Rice set the tone with an early finish after a misplaced French pass, England attacked space aggressively, and Saka’s direct running repeatedly unsettled a defence that never established control. France, by contrast, were flat before the interval and left themselves with too much to do.

The match changed almost immediately after the restart. Kylian Mbappe pulled one back in the 48th minute and then created France’s second six minutes later for Bradley Barcola, whose finish cut the deficit to 4-2. Suddenly the contest had a different rhythm, with England retreating and France pushing numbers forward. Mbappe struck again in the 66th minute after combining with Michael Olise, reducing the gap to a single goal and, in the process, moving to 22 career World Cup goals to become the competition’s outright all-time leading scorer.

At that stage England’s collapse looked a genuine possibility. France carried the momentum, Olise continued to find dangerous spaces, and England’s early authority had been replaced by nerves. The decisive moment came in the 87th minute when Djed Spence won a penalty and Saka converted it to complete his hat-trick and restore a two-goal cushion. Even then there was another twist. Ousmane Dembele curled in France’s fourth in the sixth minute of stoppage time, only for Jude Bellingham to answer two minutes later with England’s sixth and final goal to settle a remarkable contest.

The result gave England their best World Cup finish since 1966 and ensured they ended the tournament with a medal after falling short of the final. It also underlined the quality in England’s attack, with Saka producing the standout display on a night that brought relentless swings in momentum. For France, the evening mixed attacking menace with defensive disorder: Mbappe enhanced his individual place in World Cup history, but the concession of six goals turned a chance for consolation into a bruising finish.

As a match review, this was less about control than chaos. England’s explosive first half built the platform, France’s surge threatened to rip it away, and Saka’s clinical finishing ultimately defined a bronze-final spectacle that will be remembered for its volume of chances, late drama and rare ten-goal total.