Watch: England beats France 6-4 after holding off stunning second

Watch: England beats France 6-4 after holding off stunning second-half fightback

England's 4-0 lead was threatened by a France comeback, as Kylian Mbappé became the World Cup's all-time top scorer.

England have held off a remarkable French comeback to win the World Cup third-place playoff 6-4, securing their best finish at the tournament in 60 years.

England led 4-0 at half-time after a stunning opening 45 minutes that included a Bukayo Saka double and the Three Lions' second-fastest goal in World Cup history by Declan Rice.

But France mounted an extraordinary second-half fightback at Miami Stadium, scoring three goals in 18 minutes to cut the deficit to one.

Kylian Mbappé scored twice, becoming the highest goalscorer in World Cup history and moving ahead of Argentina's Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race, a trophy awarded to the tournament's highest scorer.

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Both sides made sweeping changes to the line-ups that lost to Argentina and Spain in the semi-finals, with England coach Thomas Tuchel's decision to rest captain Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham paying off as his fringe players seized their opportunity in the opening half.

Stand-in captain Rice opened the scoring after just three minutes, intercepting a sloppy pass from Désiré Doué before firing home from outside the box. It was England's second-fastest goal in World Cup history.

Ezri Konsa doubled England's lead with a glancing header from a corner delivered by Rice in the 18th minute.

Saka, who had a goal ruled out for offside in the 12th minute, struck twice before the break. He netted from close range in the 37th minute before adding his second in first-half stoppage time to give England a stunning 4-0 lead at the interval.

France finally found a response three minutes into the second half when star forward Mbappé finished from close range.

Bradley Barcola then reduced the deficit to two in the 54th minute, hammering the ball past England goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who started in place of Jordan Pickford.

Mbappé's second goal in the 66th minute made him the outright leading scorer in World Cup history with 22 goals and moved him ahead of Messi in the Golden Boot standings, with 10 goals this tournament.

Messi, who is second with eight goals, will have the chance to reclaim the lead in Monday morning's final against Spain.

England restored their two-goal cushion when Saka completed his hat-trick with an 87th-minute penalty after Djed Spence was fouled in the box.

But France struck again in the sixth minute of stoppage time through Ousmane Dembélé to make it 5-4.

Jude Bellingham then sealed the result moments later with another goal, as England prevailed in a 10-goal thriller.

It was the highest-scoring match in a third-place playoff in tournament history, surpassing France's 6-3 victory over West Germany at the 1958 tournament.

England's best finish since 1966 title

The third-place result is England's best finish at a World Cup since their first and only title win in 1966. They have lost both of their previous third-place playoffs — against Italy in 1990 and Belgium in 2018.

It was a disappointing end for French coach Didier Deschamps, whose final match came after 14 years in charge.

His tenure has included his side winning a World Cup title in 2018, a runner-up finish in 2022 and three consecutive semi-final appearances.

If Messi, 39, scores twice against Spain, he will reclaim the record as the World Cup's all-time leading goalscorer. He currently has 21 goals, one behind Mbappé.

But while this is likely to be Messi's final World Cup, Mbappé, 27, is expected to have more opportunities to add to his tally and could reclaim the record in future tournaments.

Speaking after the loss, Mbappé said: "Messi is going to score [against Spain] that's for sure. I'm just trying to help my team win. When you score a lot of goals at the World Cup, it puts you in a certain category."

"I would have preferred not to be the all-time top scorer and to be playing tomorrow's match. It's good in terms of legacy, but today it's not the first thing on my mind."

The match was the 33rd meeting between England and France, with the last fixture at the 2022 World Cup quarter-final, which France won 2-1.

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