A crazy third-place match with 10 goals! Is it really "no loser"?

Written by Han Bing 6-4, yes, you didn't misread—it's not the Three Lions, who had already shattered their penalty curse, laughing last in a shootout, but the goal tally from the two teams in the World Cup bronze medal match's regular time. England achieved their best World Cup result since winning the title in 1966, Mbappé became the all-time top scorer in World Cup history, and it seemed that except for the losing French coach Deschamps, there were no losers in this game...

This was the third-place match with the highest world rankings (3rd vs 4th) of the two participating teams since FIFA's ranking system was introduced in 1992; it was also the most expensive World Cup third-place match in terms of squad value (€1.52 billion for France and €1.36 billion for England, totaling €2.88 billion), and even the highest-value match in World Cup history. Yet, despite its seemingly grand and important nature, before the game, many feared it would become a dull and meaningless consolation match.

The starting lineups were announced without surprises. Both England and France, lacking recent fighting spirit, made seven changes from their semi-final squads, with both coaches following convention by giving rarely-seen substitutes a chance to shine. For France, Mbappé and Olise remained in the starting XI, given enough time to chase personal records. Meanwhile, Tuchel's decision to bench both Kane and Bellingham drew boos from fans before kickoff—after all, what fans paid top dollar to see was not a performance from the Saudi league's silver boot winner.

However, despite "Tony" (Kane) having no standout performance, England showed a more positive and competitive attitude earlier than France. Rice's goal in the 2nd minute and 14 seconds was the fastest official goal for England since Luke Shaw's opener in the 2nd minute of the Euro 2021 final against Italy. It was also the fastest goal France had conceded in a World Cup since 1982, when their opponent was also England, with Bryan Robson scoring in the 1st minute.

The lackluster French side then conceded successive goals. In the 19th minute, Konsa headed home, marking the first time France had conceded two goals within the first 20 minutes of a World Cup match, and the first time since the 2010 World Cup that they had allowed at least two goals in consecutive games. In the 37th minute and first minute of first-half stoppage time, Saka scored twice, leaving France down 4-0 at halftime—their biggest halftime deficit in history, and the first time since a 4-1 loss to Yugoslavia in 1968 that France had conceded four goals in the first half of an official match. In fact, France had only suffered three such instances in their entire history.

France's four-goal halftime deficit was the worst since 96 years earlier in 1930 (1-5 against Belgium, eventually 1-6). The team has conceded six or more goals in a match 21 times, with the most recent being a 2-6 loss to Switzerland in a 1960 friendly.

Even if France had no further will to fight, ending their World Cup campaign with such a humiliating defeat was unacceptable—especially for Deschamps, who was playing his final match as France's coach after 14 years. At halftime, France made four substitutions: Digne, Upamecano, Dembélé, and Barcola came on, improving both attack and defense. In the 48th and 54th minutes, Mbappé contributed a goal and an assist, first scoring from Olise's assist, then helping Barcola score. In the 66th minute, Olise provided Mbappé with his fifth dedicated assist of the tournament, and Mbappé scored again to complete his brace.

In the final 11 minutes, the two teams combined for three goals, ending this record-breaking shootout. The 4-6 scoreline surpassed the 1958 match (France 6-3 Sweden) to become the highest-scoring third-place match in World Cup history. There have been six matches in World Cup history with ten or more total goals, the last being in 1982 (Hungary 10-1 El Salvador).

Thus, Mbappé's total goals in this World Cup reached 10, making him the second French player after Just Fontaine (13 goals in 1958) to score double digits in a single World Cup, and the fourth player overall to reach double digits, tying Gerd Müller (10 goals in 1974) and trailing only Sándor Kocsis (11 goals in 1954) and Fontaine. Mbappé's 15 goals for France in a single season also broke Fontaine's 68-year-old record (14 goals in the 1957/58 season). With 10 goals and 4 assists, Mbappé contributed to 14 goals in a single World Cup, second only to Fontaine (15 in 1958). His total of 22 World Cup goals surpassed Messi to become the new all-time top scorer. Of course, Messi still has the final to play, so there is still a small suspense as to whether Mbappé can hold onto the World Cup all-time scoring record and the Golden Boot.

According to Opta statistics dating back to 1966, the previous single-tournament assist record was set by Pelé in 1970 with 6 assists. With 7 assists in this tournament, Olise surpassed Pelé to claim the title of single-tournament assist king. However, according to French media, Olise's 7 assists are fewer than Raymond Kopa's 8 assists in 1958, ranking second in French history.

Bellingham, who came off the bench, gave up a penalty but scored the most spectacular goal of the match just before the final whistle, bringing his tournament tally to 7, surpassing Kane as the team's top scorer and becoming England's new single-tournament goal king. Saka, who scored a hat-trick, also became the second player to score three goals in a World Cup third-place match, following Fontaine's achievement in 1958.

Despite the excitement, this was hardly a high-quality "clash of titans." England left with their best World Cup result in 60 years, but somewhat disgruntled; France, despite Mbappé and Olise's records, saw their worst A-level match result in 60 years with a 4-0 halftime deficit and 6 goals conceded. Moreover, Deschamps set an unwanted record of consecutive World Cup defeats for France since 2010. This third-place match offered little consolation to the heavily criticized England team and only added salt to the wounds of the equally maligned French side.

"I would rather not be the all-time top scorer and instead play in the match tomorrow." Mbappé's seemingly affected response was nonetheless a genuine reflection of both teams' feelings about this "losers' final."