2026 World Cup: An embarrassing defeat for France in the first half. England on a roll

A staggering humiliation for France in the first half of the 2026 World Cup “third-place match” against England. Deschamps’s team put in a dreadful first half and found themselves down 4-0 at halftime against a rampaging English side, completely transformed by Tuchel.

The manager of the Three Lions, heavily criticized after the loss to Argentina, left stars Kane and Bellingham on the bench and gave Toney a spot in the attack, supported by Saka, Eze, Rogers, and Rashford. This hyper-offensive lineup caught Les Bleus off guard, as they took the field distracted despite their goal of securing the top spot in the scoring standings for Mbappé.

The French team’s collapse was incredible: in the 3rd minute, England immediately took the lead through Rice, who capitalized on a mistake by Doué and left Maignan with no chance with a long-range shot. In the 18th minute, the Lions doubled their lead with a header by Konsa off a corner kick taken by Rice.

France was unable to respond, struggling both mentally and tactically. Mbappé had a lone chance in the 35th minute, but it was England who scored their third goal through Saka in the 37th minute: Maignan manages to parry Rashford’s shot, Lacroix blocks Saka, but the Arsenal forward recovers the ball and scores the third with a tap-in. And just before halftime, Saka scores his fourth: after a give-and-go with Eze, the Gunners winger makes a mockery of Theo Hernandez and beats Maignan once again.