MIAMI GARDENS — England’s chances for a World Cup championship ended in stunning fashion, with Argentina scoring two late goals to beat England in the semifinals.
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Despite the shocking loss, the English will go back across the Atlantic with the team’s best World Cup performance in 60 years.
England beat France 6-4 in the bronze final at Miami Stadium on Saturday, securing a third-place finish in this year’s tournament. It is England’s second-best performance in the World Cup, trailing only its 1966 world title. But to hold on to the third-place spot, England needed to withstand a wild comeback attempt by the French.
Leading up to Saturday’s match, it looked like both teams might play uninspired. England’s Thomas Tuchel and France’s Didier Deschamps said before Saturday’s game that they wished they were not playing in it; they would have preferred to be playing in the title game on Sunday. That left a question lingering about how seriously each team would take Saturday’s third-place game.
France started two of its biggest stars, Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise, but sat Ousmane Dembele. England sat Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, the team’s leading goalscorers, but started Arsenal’s star midfielder Declan Rice. But the French rotated their lineup, leaving starting center back Dayot Upamecano on the bench.
With Upamecano on the bench and French center back William Saliba out with an injury, England pounced on a weaker French defense.
Rice made his presence known immediately, scoring the game’s first goal in the third minute from outside the 18-yard box. England controlled the momentum throughout the first 20 minutes. It got a second goal when Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa headed in a corner that came off Rice’s foot in the 18th minute.
England’s dominance continued after the first-half hydration break. Forwards Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka drew French goalkeeper Mike Maignan away from his line, and Saka beat Maignan for England’s third goal of the half. Saka is teammates with Rice at Arsenal.
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Saka added a second goal to make it 4-0 England shortly before the half, and it looked like the rout was on. The French had other plans, though.
France got its first goal of the game shortly after the start of the second half. Mbappe, pursuing Argentina legend Lionel Messi for the World Cup’s Golden Boot (given to the top scorer in the tournament), scored in the 48th minute. It was his ninth goal of the tournament.
About six minutes later, Paris Saint-Germain forward Bradley Barcola put a second past England goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Mbappe cut France’s deficit to one with a second goal from Mbappe — his 10th of the tournament and his record-setting 22nd goal all-time in the World Cup.
The French had several opportunities to add to their goal total, including a potential game-tying opportunity by Michael Olise late in the second half. Those missed chances proved fatal, as Saka sank a penalty shot to make it 5-3 England in the 87th minute.
Upamecano, who came on midway through the game, scored a fourth for France in stoppage time, but it was too late for France to complete the comeback.
English star Jude Bellingham made it an even 10 goals for the game, scoring England’s sixth and securing the bronze. He became the first English player to score seven goals in a single World Cup.
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