England nearly blew a four-goal lead against France as Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick gave the Three Lions a remarkable 6-4 bronze medal win in Miami to achieve their best World Cup finish since 1966.
England were incredibly 4-0 up at half-time through Declan Rice’s opener, Ezri Konsa’s header and Saka’s double as Thomas Tuchel’s side took advantage of a disinterested France.
But the two-time World Cup winners woke up in the second half to threaten a sensational comeback through Kylian Mbappe’s double – which saw him become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer (22 goals) – and substitute Bradley Barcola’s strike.
Michael Olise missed two glorious chances to equalise before Djed Spence won a late penalty from Malo Gusto’s challenge, allowing Saka to score from the spot.
Yet there was still more drama to come as substitute Ousmane Dembele scored a 96th-minute goal to give France hope of avoiding defeat in Didier Deschamps’ last game in charge.
But two minutes later, substitute Jude Bellingham struck with the 10th goal of the game to set the record for the most goals by an England player at a World Cup with seven.
England’s goal-laden display and Saka’s performance will only add further frustration and regret over Wednesday’s semi-final loss to Argentina, where the Arsenal winger was an unused substitute.
England Manager, Thomas Tuchel’s name was booed by England fans before kick-off, but England’s smiles at full-time will give the German hope he can lead them to glory at their home Euros in 2028, where France are set to be led by Zinedine Zidane.
Speaking after the match, Tuchel said: “It was like four matches – what happened here. Crazy first half and a turbulent second half. You could see the difference what one day makes.
“We were so, so tired and drained from the last few weeks. Massive compliment and respect for the mentality we showed with all the adversity. Absolutely brilliant.
“I was afraid of the physical demand of the match due to the threat of France. They have far less of a schedule for them, it was less demanding. They had one day more after after the semi-final and had less travel distances than us.
“This sums it up for us. We played in the heat in extra-time, altitude and whatever. I was worried physically. You can see it in the second half, all the cramps and tiredness.
“But I was never worried about the tiredness. This team has created something special. They showed it again.”
England hat-trick goalscorer, Bukayo Saka, speaking on BBC One said: “It was a crazy, crazy game. We’re both still quite disappointed to not be in the final but it was about finishing strong and for us giving the country the best finish in the World Cup in 60 years, so we’re happy with the final result.
“I think the first half went for us. We won the first half, they won the second half and in the end we got the two goals to win the game, so I’d say that’s how the game went.”
On Jude Bellingham giving him the penalty: “No, Jude was never taking it. He was the first one to say go and get your hat-trick, so none of them came to distract me. I was always going to take it.”