KUCHING: England secured their best men’s FIFA World Cup finish in 60 years after defeating France 6-4 in an extraordinary third-place play-off at the Miami Stadium, United States on Saturday (July 18).
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka etched his name into England’s World Cup history with a hat-trick, becoming just the fourth Englishman to score three goals in a World Cup match after Sir Geoff Hurst, Gary Lineker and Harry Kane.
Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and Jude Bellingham were also on target as the Three Lions claimed World Cup bronze for the first time since their 1966 triumph.
England threatened to put the contest beyond doubt before half-time after racing into a four-goal lead. Rice opened the scoring inside three minutes before Konsa doubled England’s advantage from a corner. Saka then struck twice, including a stoppage-time effort, to leave Thomas Tuchel’s men firmly in control at the break.
France emerged a different side after the interval. Kylian Mbappé sparked Les Bleus’ comeback in the 59th minute before Bradley Barcola added a second four minutes later. Mbappé struck again on 66 minutes to become the FIFA World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer with 22 career goals while extending his lead in the Golden Boot race with 10 goals.
The French fightback continued as Ousmane Dembélé made it 5-4 deep into stoppage time after Saka had completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot four minutes from time.
However, with France committing numbers forward in search of an equaliser, Bellingham broke away from the halfway line to add England’s sixth goal with virtually the final kick of the match, putting an end to one of the tournament’s most entertaining encounters.
The victory sees England equal their best World Cup finish since lifting the trophy on home soil in 1966 and provides a fitting response following their semi-final heartbreak against eventual finalists Argentina earlier this week.
