World Cup fans come up with new bronze match rule after Kylian Mbappe brace

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Kylian Mbappe’s brace against England has left World Cup fans demanding an immediate rule change regarding the tournament’s third-place playoff.

The 2026 World Cup bronze match between France and England evolved into a 10-goal thriller, with England ultimately edging a historic 6-4 victory in Miami.

Despite the defensive chaos and France falling short, Kylian Mbappe used the platform to etch his name into football eternity.

By firing a second-half brace, the French captain took his tournament tally to a staggering 10 goals. This double officially catapulted Mbappe into first place for the 2026 Golden Boot race, while pushing his career total to 22 goals, overtaking Lionel Messi as the all-time top scorer in World Cup history.

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World Cup fans demand a rule change for the bronze match

After witnessing what came across as a bit of a friendly match between England and France, a number of fans on social media have been calling for a rule change.

It revolves around Kylian Mbappe going two goals ahead of Lionel Messi in the 2026 World Cup top scorer charts, as he now sits on 10 goals, with the Argentine on eight.

Many World Cup fans feel that it’s unfair that Mbappe can add to his tally after being knocked out of the competition in a bronze match that lacked core elements of a standard tournament knockout game.

This fan is of that belief: “Stat padding in a bronze place game that shouldn’t even count towards it.”

“It bothers me a lot that there are 3 players that can stat pad in the losers game and end up winning the Golden boot. Want a cash grab 3rd place game? Fine, let’s keep it but it shouldn’t count for the Golden Boot,” this fan also agreed with the ‘stat pad’ angle.

Another pointed out how England and France are already out: “This bronze match. The goals shouldn’t count towards totals. The teams are already out.”

“Bronze final matches goal shouldn’t count, you’re already out of the competition,” another one made a valid point about being out of the competition.

However, despite fan backlash, it’s unlikely to change at all, as it would change history, having been a thing since it was first introduced at the 1934 FIFA World Cup in Italy.