By Nabakiibi Dorren Malaika
England claimed the bronze medal at the FIFA World Cup after defeating France 6-4 in an action-packed third-place playoff at Miami Stadium.
Thomas Tuchel’s side raced into a four-goal lead before halftime. Declan Rice opened the scoring in the third minute from a Morgan Gibbs-White assist, while Ezri Konsa doubled the advantage in the 18th minute from Rice’s delivery.
Bukayo Saka added England’s third in the 37th minute after being picked out by Marcus Rashford before grabbing his second in first-half stoppage time from an Eberechi Eze assist to give England a commanding 4-0 lead at the break.
France responded strongly after the restart. Kylian Mbappé pulled one back in the 48th minute before setting up Bradley Barcola six minutes later to make it 4-2. Mbappé then scored his second of the match in the 66th minute after another assist from Michael Olise, cutting England’s lead to one goal.
England restored control late on when Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 87th minute.
Ousmane Dembélé scored France’s fourth goal in stoppage time from Dayot Upamecano’s pass, but Jude Bellingham wrapped up the contest moments later with England’s sixth goal to seal a 6-4 victory.
The win secured third place for England after their semi-final exit, while France’s spirited second-half fightback proved too little, too late.
Attention now turns to the Africa Cup of Nations, with participating nations entering the final phase of preparations for the continent’s biggest football tournament. Several African players are expected to carry their World Cup form into the competition.
