Every prediction had France winning. France 3, England 1. France 2, England 1. France on penalties. The oddsmakers installed France as -110 favorites and England at +270 — a price that already looks like the steal of the tournament.
Three minutes in, Declan Rice decided to answer his critics personally. The midfielder whom Graeme Souness publicly suggested should be relocated to center back intercepted a pass near midfield, drove unimpeded to the edge of the French penalty box, and unleashed a right-footed shot that beat goalkeeper Mike Maignan. 1-0.
Fifteen minutes later, Rice turned provider. His corner kick found Ezri Konsa, who headed home to double the lead in the 18th minute. A defender scoring off a midfielder’s set-piece delivery is the kind of sequence that makes a coaching staff look genius and an opponent look like they skipped the scouting report.
Then Bukayo Saka piled on. In the 37th minute, an English counterattack left the French defense scrambling. Maignan rushed off his line to confront Marcus Rashford in open space and got a piece of the play, but a bouncing ball in the box fell to Saka. His shot deflected off a French defender on the goal line and crossed anyway. 3-0.
Social media posts indicated Saka added a fourth for England before halftime, though that goal had not been confirmed in mainstream coverage at the time of this report.
This is the 2026 World Cup third-place match — the consolation prize neither team wanted. England arrived after a 2-1 semifinal loss to Argentina on July 15, a defeat that brought the usual wave of English press criticism down on Rice and the squad. France walked out at Hard Rock Stadium — which FIFA rebranded “Miami Stadium” for the tournament — as the consensus pick to win.
The prematch predictions were unanimous in France’s favor. Seth Vertelney of USA TODAY called it 3-1 France. Ben Knapton of Sports Mole, Byron David of Goal.com, and Richard Parry of Squawka all had France winning 2-1. Dimers.com projected a 1-1 draw with France advancing on penalties. The over/under sat at 3.5 goals — a