Saka Fires England to Bronze Medal

England officially finished third at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after edging out France in a thrilling Third-Place game.

The Three Lions won the bronze medal for the first time in what was their best World Cup performance for 60 years. Despite an incredible fightback, France had to settle for fourth place. Can England kick on and finally win some silverware?

Saka in Inspired Form

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka did not feature as much as he would have liked in North America, but the No. 7 was England’s main man in the Third-Place matchup. The forward showed his class with a memorable treble in Miami.

The Three Lions were irresistible in the first half, blowing France away with some sensational attacking football. Saka scored twice, while Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa were also on the scoresheet. Thomas Tuchel’s men went into the break 4-0 up.

In typical French fashion, Les Bleus were quick out of the blocks in the second period, and early goals from Kylian Mbappe and Bradley Barcola halved the deficit. France cut the scoreline down to one and missed a hatful of golden chances to level.

However, Saka scored from the spot to complete his hat-trick before Ousmane Dembele made it 5-4 in the 96th minute. Jude Bellingham, England’s star man of the tournament, came off the bench to complete the scoring with an incredible solo goal.

Another Step in the Right Direction

Make no mistake, England went into the 2026 World Cup wanting to win the tournament. They went close but came up short in the end.

Tuchel’s team were extremely professional in the Third-Place game, and the bronze medal was England’s best result at a World Cup since winning the tournament on home turf way back in 1966.

The English have reached two semi-finals in three World Cups and have been back-to-back UEFA European Championship runners-up. Can they finally get over the line and win a major tournament? The focus now turns to September's UEFA Nations League opener against Spain.