‘Crazy’ scenes as star scores in final seconds of 10-goal England thriller
Jude Bellingham’s last-gasp goal handed England third place in the 2026 World Cup after a thrilling 6-4 victory on Sunday morning (AEST) over France.
After taking a commanding 4-0 lead in the first half, England faced some nervous moments when France mounted a dangerous comeback, led by Kylian Mbappé.
Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham celebrate the victory. Getty Images
Mbappé made history in the process, surpassing Argentina’s Lionel Messi to become the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with a staggering 22 career goals, but his record-breaking heroics were in vain as England refused to break.
It was Bellingham who stepped up in the final moments, individually firing home his side’s sixth goal to finally put the final nail in the coffin for the French side in what ended up being England’s final kick of the tournament.
Bellingham’s last-gasp goal capped off England’s nail-biting victory and the ten goals scored in the game were the most of any game in the 2026 tournament.
In the midst of the thriller, England’s Bukayo Saka scored a World Cup hat-trick with two goals in the first half and a successful penalty goal.
The England player admitted afterwards he was happy the “crazy game” was enough to hand England its best World Cup result in 60 years.
“It was a crazy, crazy game. We’re still quite disappointed to not be in the final but it was about finishing strong and for us giving the country the best finish in the World Cup in 60 years, so we’re happy with the final result,” he said to the BBC.
“I think the first half went for us. We won the first half, they won the second half and in the end we got the two goals to win the game, so I’d say that’s how the game went.”
When asked about the late penalty that secured his hat-trick, Saka was quick to praise his teammate’s leadership.
”Jude was never taking it. He was the first one to say go and get your hat-trick, so none of them came to distract me. I was always going to take it,” Saka reiterated.
