10 goals! The England-France clash turned into an exhibition match: breaking a 68-year-old record, FIFA is shocked by three unexpected things

19/07/2026 12:04:11 ceshi

On July 19, Beijing time, the World Cup third-place match ended with a dramatic goal fest. A total of 10 goals were scored in the game, with England edging out France 6-4. This marked England's best World Cup result in 60 years, and the third-place finish allowed Tuchel to complete his mission. However, fans heavily criticized the match for being played like an exhibition, and FIFA was caught off guard, giving rise to three unexpected developments. Let's take a look!

France's journey to the World Cup this year was smooth sailing, but in the semifinals against Spain, they were completely overwhelmed and unable to fight back. Mbappé was silenced, and they could only watch as Spain eliminated them 2-0. Meanwhile, England's campaign was bumpy, but they eventually started to choke in the later stages. In the semifinals, they played with fire: after taking the lead, they became conservative and allowed Argentina to bombard them, eventually conceding two goals in a 2-1 comeback loss. As a result, both France and England had to compete for the meaningless third place. No one wanted to play this match, but they had no choice.

In the end, both teams went all out, combining for 10 goals—4 in the first half and 6 in the second half. England defeated France 6-4 to claim the bronze medal. This match set multiple historical records: first, Mbappé surpassed Messi to become the top scorer in World Cup history with 22 goals. Second, the 10 goals scored broke the record for the most goals in a third-place match, a record that had stood for 68 years.

Additionally, three unexpected things emerged from this game. First, it was surprising that the England-France match turned into an exhibition, with both teams playing so harmoniously and ultimately getting what they wanted. Second, no one expected the third-place match to see a staggering 10 goals, completely overturning fans' expectations—it seems the third-place decider is just for fun. Third, it became clear that the third-place match is truly meaningless, with both teams simply padding their goal tallies. FIFA is likely worried that this game will be heavily criticized in the future, and there may be calls to abolish the third-place match altogether.