England beat France 6-4 to finish third at the World Cup, giving Thomas Tuchel’s side a bronze-medal finish and a rare place in the tournament’s history. It was England’s first World Cup medal in 60 years, and Tuchel said the result should give the players something to be proud of even if bronze is difficult to fully celebrate.
The match also capped a tournament run that Tuchel described as a special seven-week build, one that ended in disappointment only after England had been within five minutes plus stoppages of reaching their first World Cup final on foreign soil. That made the third-place game feel like more than a formality, especially against a France side led by Didier Deschamps in his final match after 14 years in charge.
England finish with a milestone result
Tuchel said the game would help the team going forward, calling it the first World Cup medal for England in 60 years and the first at a World Cup on foreign soil. He added that the players could be proud of what they achieved, even if the pain of missing out on the final would stay for a while.
Anthony Barry was also upbeat after the result, saying the cynics might argue it came too late, but stressing that England were still facing a world-class opponent and that he was proud of the boys. He noted that there were 45 minutes to go at one stage and that anything could still happen.
Key players and what comes next
Bukayo Saka said he would have liked to play more, but added that it was too late to talk about that. The England camp will now look ahead to the next stage of preparation, with a Nations League match against Spain scheduled at Wembley on 26 September.
For England, the result answered the immediate question of who finished third at the World Cup, and it did so in memorable fashion. The final scoreline, the medal, and the historic context all make this one of the more important consolation games in the country’s World Cup history.
