Tag: Declan Rice

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England beats France 6-4 in wild World Cup third-place game

Bukayo Saka scored three goals to lead England to a 6-4 win over France for third place in the World Cup, while Kylian Mbappé surpassed Lionel Messi’s career tournament scoring record and took the lead in the Golden Boot race with a pair of second-half goals on Saturday.

It was the highest-scoring World Cup game since Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982, and the 10 goals were the most in a third-place match.

Saka had goals in the 37th minute and in first-half stoppage time, then added his third on a penalty in the 87th for his second career hat trick with England. The Three Lions also got goals from Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa to build a 4-0 halftime lead, and they hung on during a wild second half to secure their second-best finish in the World Cup. England won its only title in 1966.

England’s Jude Bellingham capped the scoring in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time, his seventh goal of the tournament.

Mbappé reached 22 career goals, one more than Messi. The star striker finished this World Cup with 10 goals, two ahead of Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, which is awarded to the tournament’s top scorer.

Messi will get one last shot at the scoring title when he and defending champion Argentina face Spain on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé also scored for France.

France’s Kylian Mbappe, right, controls the ball past England’s Marc Guehi (6) during the World Cup third-place playoff soccer match between France and England in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Both teams had said they’d rather be playing in Sunday’s final. France had enough offensive firepower to potentially win the tournament, but Les Bleus lost to Spain in the semifinals and squandered their chance at reaching a third straight World Cup final. England blew a 1-0 lead against Argentina and lost 2-1 when Messi assisted on two late goals.

Still, a sellout crowd of 64,478 showed up to watch the seventh and final match of this World Cup at Hard Rock Stadium.

Plenty of supporters were cheering for both teams, but many were there simply for the atmosphere of the low-stakes match.

“I love English football,” said Gaston Esquivel, a native of Mexico City who came to support England. “I’ve followed the Premier League since I was a kid. I am a Manchester United fan. I like their style, I like their game.”

Thomas Viel, who traveled from Paris to follow France throughout the tournament, was hoping to see a hat trick by Mbappé. He nearly got his wish.

France trailed 4-0 when Mbappé flicked a shot past goalkeeper Dean Henderson in the 48th minute. Then he beat Henderson again with a left-footed strike from about 14 yards in the 66th.

“I think Messi will not score a hat trick tomorrow,” Viel said.

It was also the final match for France coach Didier Deschamps, who has said he will step down after 14 years. Deschamps embraced players and waved toward the crowd as he exited the pitch. (JapanToday)

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Arsenal stretches Premier League lead

Arsenal fought back from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 3-2 on Saturday, stretching their lead at the top of the Premier League as Aston Villa extended their winning run at home.

A goal from Gabriel Magalhaes and two from the returning Declan Rice sent the Gunners six points clear of second-placed Villa and seven ahead of Manchester City.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised the character of his team, singling out Rice and Gabriel, whose sloppy pass set up Bournemouth for the opening goal.

“I love the character of Gabriel, the way he overcome that situation — it’s just unbelievable, it says a lot about how much we’ve grown,” he told Sky Sports. “The team found a way to beat them and it’s a massive win.”

The Spaniard said that Rice had worked hard to be available after missing Tuesday’s 4-1 home win against Villa with a knee problem.

“He has stretched himself to the very limit and the team were awarded with two great goals,” he added.

Evanilson gave impressive Bournemouth an early lead, stroking home after Gabriel’s error but the Brazil defender made up for his mistake just minutes later, converting after Noni Madueke’s drive to the byline.

England midfielder Rice side-footed the Gunners ahead in the 54th minute from the edge of the area and gave them breathing space with about 20 minutes to go, producing a low finish from substitute Bukayo Saka’s cutback.

Junior Kroupi brought Bournemouth back into the game with a thunderous right-footed finish but Arsenal held on for a fifth straight Premier League win — keeping them firmly on course for a first English title since 2004.

Earlier, Unai Emery’s Villa bounced back from their chastening defeat at Arsenal to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1, recording their 11th consecutive home win in all competitions.

England forward Ollie Watkins gave Villa a deserved lead on the cusp of half-time with a powerful strike from just outside the area and John McGinn scored twice in the second half, either side of a Morgan Gibbs-White goal.

Villa boss Emery said his players and coaching staff had held a meeting after their drubbing at the Emirates Stadium.

“I am so happy,” he said. “We had to recover our energy and our confidence. Here, at Villa Park, the energy we create was really important.

“Forest are competitive. After the Arsenal match we met — the players and staff — (and discussed) how we are doing this season, how we are feeling, how we needed to keep the same consistency as before, how we needed to be together and strong.”

Sean Dyche’s Forest, who have now suffered four straight league defeats, remain one place above the relegation zone, four points clear of West Ham, who slumped to a damaging 3-0 loss at Molineux. (JapanToday)

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Arsenal wins again to extend lead in Premier League; Man United salvages late draw

The wins just keep on coming for Arsenal.

The Premier League leader extended its advantage at the top of the standings to seven points on Saturday after a 2-0 victory against Burnley.

That’s 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s team after a flying start to the season that has only strengthened belief it will end its long-running title drought.

Not since 2004 has Arsenal been crowned English champion – but it has quickly established itself as the team to beat this season.

First half goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Declan Rice at Turf Moor made it nine wins in a row and put further distance between Arsenal and the chasing pack.

“Every weekend I know how important it is to win football matches,” Rice said. “I realize the position we’re in and what we can achieve as a club.”

Manchester United missed the chance to provisionally move up to second, but maintained its recent unbeaten run by scoring late to salvage a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest.

Chelsea beat Tottenham 1-0 and bottom of the table Wolverhampton remains winless after yet another defeat – losing 3-0 to Fulham.

Crystal Palace beat Brentford 2-0 and Brighton won 3-0 against Leeds.

Another win and another clean sheet for an Arsenal team that has by far the meanest defense in the league.

Victory at Burnley was the seventh straight shutout for the London club, which has only conceded three goals all term. This was also the third time in the league this season that Arsenal denied its opponent any shots on target.

Crucially, the goals are flowing at the other end and summer signing Viktor Gyokeres scored his sixth of the season to put Arsenal in front with a 14th minute header from close range. Rice doubled the lead in the 35th with another header low into the corner.

“We knew it was going to be a tough test, but we had to stick to our principles,” Rice said. “In the end our quality shone through.”

Amad Diallo scored a stunning left-footed volley from the edge of the area to salvage a point for United and ensure coach Ruben Amorim’s unbeaten run was extended to four games.

United had led Forest at halftime at the City Ground after Casemiro’s header in the 34th.

But the visitors were stunned after the break when Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona struck within five minutes of the restart to put new Forest coach Sean Dyche in sight of a first league win since taking charge.

“We lost control of the game for five minutes and we paid the price,” Amorim said.

Bruno Fernandes hit the post with a long range effort as United went in search of a leveler and in the 81st Diallo lashed a volley beyond Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

He might have scored a winner with another fierce strike that was cleared off the line.

“We managed to score, we had a big opportunity in the end. But we lost two points and that is the feeling, but we have the next week to work and to try and get these points in another stadium,” Amorim said.

Chelsea bounced back from last week’s defeat to Sunderland with victory against London rival Tottenham.

Joao Pedro’s finish in the 34th was enough to separate the teams at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Enzo Maresca’s team had numerous chances to extend its lead.

Spurs’ league record at home is looking increasingly concerning for coach Thomas Frank, with the last win coming against Burnley on the opening day of the season.

An eighth league defeat from 10 games this season leaves Wolves rock bottom and in danger of being cut adrift.

The signs were ominous from the ninth minute when Ryan Sessegnon opened the scoring for Fulham at Craven Cottage and it got worse from there.

The visitors were down to 10 men when Emmanuel Agbadou was sent off in the 36th and in the second half Harry Wilson extended Fulham’s lead before Yerson Mosquera’s own goal made it 3-0.

The latest defeat will only heighten speculation over the future of Wolves coach Vitor Pereira, who only signed a new three-year contract in September.

At the age of 34, Danny Welbeck is still delivering in England’s top flight.

The Brighton striker’s 11th-minute goal at the Amex Stadium was his sixth in as many games and opened the scoring against Leeds.

At this rate, the former Man United and Arsenal player may be a contender for England’s World Cup squad.

“I just control what I can control – I am enjoying playing my football here at Brighton, my focus is always on Brighton and doing the best that I can,” Welbeck said.

Diego Gomez scored twice in the second half to complete the 3-0 win for Brighton.

Jean-Philippe Mateta was on target for Palace in its 2-0 win against Brentford. (JapanToday)