For England, this was more than a consolation match. It was a reminder that even after a painful semi-final loss, a team can still finish a tournament with authority, incision and a result that rewrites a small piece of history. In a 10-goal thriller against France, Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick powered a 6-4 win that delivered England third place at the World Cup for the first time.
The scoreline tells you how chaotic it became, but not how sharply England started. Declan Rice scored in the third minute, and by halftime France had conceded four goals. That kind of first-half burst is usually the sign of a team that has found its rhythm early and punished every lapse around the box. England did exactly that, turning a third-place playoff into something far more decisive than the setting suggested.
There was also a bigger football story underneath the noise. Before kick-off, Kylian Mbappé had posted his “Today is your last dance” message to Didier Deschamps, and the match ended with the France coach’s 14-year spell drawing to a close. Mbappé then did what elite forwards do in matches that threaten to run away from them: he dragged France back into the contest. He started the comeback in the second half and later scored again, taking his World Cup tally to double figures and becoming the first male player to reach that mark since Gerd Müller in 1970.
Saka, Bellingham and the shape of England’s response
England’s response was not just about one star. Thomas Tuchel had promised a reaction after the semi-final loss to Argentina, and he got one in the most direct way possible: goals, pace and a team that kept finding ways to hurt France even as the game opened up. Saka’s penalty late in the match completed his hat-trick, while Jude Bellingham added another goal after coming off the bench. That detail matters. England were not merely surviving; they were still finding impact from different stages of the squad.
The seven changes England made from the semi-final also fit the story. This was a different XI, and the result suggested that the depth was there to reset quickly after disappointment. England’s bronze medals arrived at the end of a performance that mixed control, ruthlessness and enough resilience to withstand France’s second-half push.
France will leave with their own mixed emotions. They scored four times and showed the quality to make a wild match even wilder, but the first half was too costly to overcome. England, meanwhile, leave with a first third-place finish at a World Cup and a final result that looked more like a statement than a scrap for consolation. Football Scores Today had a headline score, but it also had a larger message: England can still turn pressure into production when the game opens up.
