Englands thrilling 6-4 win against France secured the Three Lions a World Cup bronze medal their best finish since they won the trophy in 1966 and left Declan Rice adamant major tournament success is close. Despite the criticism of Thomas Tuchels tactics since their painful semi-final collapse against Argentina, stand-in captain Rice was quick to praise Englands efforts at the tournament.This is the best England group for a very long time. Thats a fact. No-one can take that away from us, Rice said.I think we can be proud as a group we are just gutted we lost in that semi-final.Were tired of saying were proud of coming in semi-finals and quarter-finals we want to win with England ultimately. But to come third in this tournament is a real achievement.Were so close, honestly. Theres been so much talk about this group over the last few years going out of tournaments. Theres been semi-final exits, quarter-finals, finals.The Three Lions squad under Tuchel has faced immense media scrutiny, particularly regarding their set-up against Argentina under pressure.Rices long-range effort in the third minute opened the scoring against France before Ezri Konsa doubled the Three Lions lead with a header 15 minutes later andBukayo Sakastruck twice before half-time.Kylian Mbappe slotted in twice to reach 10 goals at the 2026 edition moving two goals clear of Argentinas Lionel Messi as the leading marksman in thetop scorer standings either side of the Bleus captain setting up Bradley Barcola to fire in.Those goals meant the 2018 champions had reduced the deficit to 4-3 by the 66th minute of a breathless and frequently end-to-end encounter, but Michael Olise missed a presentable opportunity before Saka completed his treble with a penalty.Ousmane Dembele curled in his sixth goal of the finals from inside the box in the 96th minute, only for Jude Bellingham to dance through a crowd of players and smash in his seventh of the tournament to ensure England, who rested top scorer Harry Kane, took bronze.Rice remains fully convinced that the narrow gap between England and the ultimate prize will soon be bridged.I think we need to keep going. I do think its close. Its a game of small margins. Its football and the other night we lost on margins and in the boxes. Topics Declan Rice England National Football Team Add us as a preferred source on Google If you enjoy reading this article, you can help support our independent football journalism by adding 101 Great Goals as a preferred source You Should Also Read England should be proud of third place says Tuchel after crazy France win Tom Rostance 19th July, 2026 End of an Era: Didier Deschamps bows out in chaos as England edge 10-Goal World Cup thriller Tom Rostance 19th July, 2026 England v France: Live World Cup 2026 text commentary, updates, goals and stats as it happened Jon Fisher 19th July, 2026 England 6-4 France: World Cup 2026 report, result goals as Saka scores hat-trick and Kylian Mbappe moves above Lionel Messi as top scorer Ben Miller 19th July, 2026 England vs France live: Kylian Mbappe cant believe World Cup 2026 goals as Rice, Konsa and Saka give Three Lions 4-0 first-half lead in play off Ben Miller 18th July, 2026 England vs France live: World Cup 2026 confirmed teams and full line ups as Kylian Mbappe starts and Harry Kane is rested, TV channel, online stream and stats Ben Miller 18th July, 2026
