07/18/26 05:03:00
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07/18 17:01 CDT England takes 4-0 lead over France at halftime of World Cup
third-place match
England takes 4-0 lead over France at halftime of World Cup third-place match
By ALANIS THAMES
AP Sports Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) --- France's Kylian Mbapp was in the starting lineup
for his squad's third-place World Cup match against England on Saturday as he
continues his chase for a second Golden Boot.
That didn't seem to matter much for France, which headed into halftime trailing
4-0.
With stars Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane watching from the bench --- neither
was in England's starting lineup --- Declan Rice opened the scoring, curling a
shot past France goalkeeper Mike Maignan in the third minute.
Ezri Konsa headed home a corner in the 18th, and Bukayo Saka added goals in the
37th and in stoppage time to stun Les Bleus, who had allowed only four goals in
the entire tournament entering Saturday.
Mbapp, who won the Golden Boot at the World Cup four years ago in Qatar, is in
a tight race with Argentina's Lionel Messi for the award, given to the
tournament's top scorer. Mbapp and Messi have eight goals each.
Messi holds the first tiebreaker with a 4-3 lead in assists. He and defending
champion Argentina will face Spain in Sunday's final.
Both teams in Saturday's third-place match have said they'd rather be playing
on Sunday. France lost to Spain in the semifinals and squandered its chance at
reaching a third straight World Cup final. England blew a 1-0 lead against
Argentina.
Still, Mbapp and his teammates arrived at Hard Rock Stadium in hopes of
delivering one last win for Didier Deschamps, who was set to coach his final
game for France.
It now looks unlikely that will happen. Meanwhile, a third-place finish by the
Three Lions would be their best since they won their only title in 1966.
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