England win World Cup bronze in 10-goal thriller as Bukayo Saka hat-trick upstages record-breaking Kylian Mbappe
The bronze-medal match tends to be one of the highest-scoring games of the tournament, and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. England manager Thomas Tuchel called it a fixture “nobody wants to play in” earlier in the week, but that didn’t appear to be the case as the Three Lions and France battled in the highest-scoring third-place match in World Cup history, with England edging a wild 6-4 win.
Declan Rice fired England in front almost instantly, curling a long-range effort from 25 yards beyond Mike Maignan. Désiré Doué’s poor pass was intercepted to spark the attack, and it was a shot the France goalkeeper should have saved. Still, it was a much-needed goal for an England side heavily criticized for its collapse against Argentina in the semifinal.
Seemingly motivated to put all of that behind them, England’s onslaught continued throughout the opening 45 minutes. Rice again played an important role in the 20th minute, with his inswinging corner finding Ezri Konsa, who expertly headed home to give England a 2-0 lead.
The Three Lions remained relentless, with a counterattack leaving Maignan helpless after he came off his line too early and left the goal exposed. After several attempts, Bukayo Saka was ultimately the beneficiary, smashing home England’s third goal of the half. But the Arsenal star wasn’t done yet.
Eberechi Eze played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of the pacey winger, who easily beat his defender before scoring another wondergoal. Tuchel’s side went into the break seemingly with one hand on the bronze medal after thrashing France in the first half, but Les Bleus made a game of it over the final 45 minutes.
Kylian Mbappé scored almost immediately after the break, pouncing at the end of an effective counterattack to cut England’s lead to 4-1. Bradley Barcola followed suit with another goal on the break before Michael Olise set up Mbappé with a beautiful assist to make it 4-3 and put England on the ropes.
With his second goal, Mbappé moved to 22 career World Cup goals, one ahead of Lionel Messi, to become the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. It is an incredible feat considering he is just 27, although Messi will have an opportunity to reclaim the record in Sunday’s final. Mbappé’s 10 goals also put him in control of the Golden Boot race.
The assist was Olise’s sixth of the competition, tying Pelé’s record for the most in a single World Cup. Yet he would rue his own missed opportunities after failing to convert not one, but two chances in front of goal – either of which would have pulled France level.
England made France pay at the other end. Malo Gusto fouled Djed Spence in the box, handing Saka a penalty in the 87th minute. The Arsenal star coolly converted to give England what appeared to be a decisive 5-3 lead with just minutes remaining. But France continued to fight.
Dembélé took advantage of poor defending from England to easily slot home France’s fourth goal. In the end, though, the Three Lions’ early advantage proved too much to overcome. Substitute Jude Bellingham delivered arguably the best goal of the match, dribbling past three defenders inside the France box before beating Maignan to ice a remarkable 6-4 win. It was Bellingham’s seventh goal of the tournament, setting a new England record and securing the country’s best World Cup finish since 1966.
