Yahoo Sports42%
2026 World Cup: England survives France rally to claim third place in 10-goal thriller 78%
By Kari Anderson93%
7/18/2026, 11:46:05 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 26 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Availability Heuristic, and Halo Effect, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 49.4% saturation with 264 hits. Analysis detected 1,403 faulty-reasoning hits from 534 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 71% and a BS Rank of 78% (3,947 of 17,928 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 78.00% of the article peer group.
Third place is coming home — though England nearly let it all slip away.
In a stunning start to the World Cup third-place match, the Three Lions took a 4-0 lead after an incredible first half.
But France didn't quit, scoring three goals early in the second half to keep the game alive.
A hat trick from Bukayo Saka and late goals from Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham added to the madness, ending with a 6-4 England win.
It was the most goals scored in a World Cup match since 1982.
This was not the result anyone was expecting from this match, with both teams seeming pretty low energy after the disappointment of the semifinals.
England's lineup in particular seemed to indicate that the team wasn't playing for a win: Neither captain Harry Kane nor star midfielder Jude Bellingham got the start, and starting goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was replaced by Dean Henderson.
But Declan Rice, sporting the captain's armband, only needed two-and-a-half minutes to prove that wrong, scoring the first goal of the game soon after the opening whistle.
3RD MINUTE GOAL FOR ENGLAND 🚨It’s the captain Declan Rice to put the Three Lions ahead!
pic.twitter.com/DJwQiZTeCj— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 18, 2026 A header from Ezri Konsa in the 18th minutes doubled that lead, before Saka added two more goals before the end of the half as England completely dismantled the French defense.
"ENGLAND ARE TAKING FRANCE TO THE CLEANERS!"
🗣️ - @DFletcherSport4-0 IN THE FIRST HALF FOR THE THREE LIONS pic.twitter.com/LxHNvuKQnf— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 18, 2026 But the game was a different story in the second half, as France emerged from the break with renewed energy.
Minutes into the second half, Mbappé broke through for his first, before Bradley Barcola found the back of the net in the 54th minute to cut the deficit in half.
Barcola, though, didn't celebrate, seemingly understanding the work France still needed to do.
In the 66th minute, Mbappé scored again, officially becoming the all-time leading World Cup scorer and breaking a tie with him and Lionel Messi.
The goal was Mbappé's 10th of the tournament, which leads the Golden Boot race.
Michael Olise, with an assist on both of Mbappé's goals, also passed Pelé for the all-time World Cup assist record with seven.
The moment Kylian Mbappé became the World Cup's all-time leading scorer with 22 goals 😱(via @FOXSports) pic.twitter.com/aLCH57sw7k— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 18, 2026 France continued to knock on the door, but a penalty drawn in the 87th minute gave England the chance to comfortably pull to a larger lead.
Saka took the penalty, and buried into the right side of the goal, securing a hat trick in a high-stakes moment.
Les Bleus weren't done yet, though, as Ousmane Dembélé hit a great finish in stoppage time to bring France back within one.
But in the final minutes of the game, Bellingham scored a beauty to ice the 6-4 win for England.
Ten goals.
Absolute madness.
And in the end, England came out on top, earning the bronze medal for the country's best finish since winning the championship in 1966.
Analysis
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