England claimed their best World Cup finish since 1966, beating France 6-4 in a wild third-place playoff. Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick as England raced 4-0 clear by half-time, then clung on through a French comeback that fell agonisingly short. The 10 goals made it the highest-scoring match at a World Cup since 1982.
Three days after Argentina broke their hearts with two late goals in the semi-final, England came out swinging. Declan Rice struck inside three minutes, and Konsa headed in a Rice corner on 18 minutes. Saka added two before the interval, sending England into the break 4-0 up.
Their manager did not spare them. "We played a disgraceful first half," Deschamps said afterwards. "We did show some fight, though, and there were things we did well."
France, playing seven changes and Deschamps' quadruple half-time switch, roared back through Kylian Mbappé who scored twice and Bradley Barcola. Saka completed his hat-trick from the spot on 87 minutes after Djed Spence was fouled by Malo Gusto, and Jude Bellingham drove in the sixth deep in stoppage time after Ousmane Dembélé had pulled France back to 5-4.
The combined 10 goals set a record for a World Cup third-place match, beating the nine scored when France beat West Germany 6-3 in 1958. Across 90 minutes, the sides mustered 38 shots, 20 on target.
Mbappé's brace lifted him to 22 goals across his World Cup career, moving him past Messi's 21 as the men's all-time leading scorer. His two strikes also took him to 10 for this tournament, enough to win the Golden Boot. He is the first player to reach 10 goals in a single World Cup since Gerd Müller in 1970.
Mbappé said he would swap the honour for a place in the final. "To be honest, I would have preferred to not be top scorer and be in the World Cup final," he said.
Michael Olise set a record of his own, his two assists taking him to seven in a single tournament, surpassing Pelé's six from 1970. Bellingham's late goal made him the first Englishman to score seven in a single World Cup. Saka became only the fourth men's player to record a World Cup hat-trick for England, and the first to do so in a knockout match since Sir Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final.
Tuchel asked his squad to find pride despite the disappointment of missing the final. "It's the first medal for 60 years, the best World Cup on foreign soil. So I hope that the players can be proud of that in some time," he said.
