Bukayo Saka‘s hat-trick helped England seal their best World Cup finish since 1966, beating France 6-4 in a breathless third-place play-off that also saw Kylian Mbappé become the tournament’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Thomas Tuchel was booed by some England fans prior to kick-off, amid fierce criticism of his defensive tactics during Wednesday’s semi-final defeat to Argentina.
But the Three Lions certainly did not sit back in Miami, even with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham dropping to the bench. Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa struck to put them 2-0 up after 18 minutes, before Saka added two more goals late in the first half.
France came storming back after the interval, though, with Mbappé overtaking Lionel Messi – at least temporarily – as the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer with his two goals, which came either side of a powerful finish from substitute Bradley Barcola.
Saka’s 87th-minute penalty pulled England clear again, and even though Ousmane Dembélé reintroduced some nerves in stoppage time, substitute Bellingham scored the clinching goal to ensure a losing end to Didier Deschamps’s 14-year France reign.
The scoring started as early as the third minute, with Rice picking off a terrible pass from Désiré Doué before raiding forward and drilling into the far corner from range.
Rayan Cherki saw an effort swatted away by England’s stand-in goalkeeper Dean Henderson, but Les Bleus continued to look ragged at the other end, and they were saved by the offside flag when Saka finished neatly across goal.
A near-identical move saw another Saka shot deflect behind, but England kept the pressure on and from the resulting corner, Rice’s delivery was glanced into the far corner by Konsa.
And there was still more to come from the Three Lions. France’s defence was all at sea for the third goal in the 37th minute, with Marcus Rashford inexplicably allowed to run clean through on goal from inside his own half. Rashford was initially thwarted by Mike Maignan, but he recovered to turn provider for Saka.
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