Bukayo Saka ended his World Cup campaign with a stunning hat-trick as England defeated France 6-4 to secure third place in Miami.
The Arsenal winger scored twice during a dominant opening half before completing his treble from the penalty spot during a frantic closing period.
Declan Rice opened the scoring inside three minutes and then delivered the corner from which Ezri Konsa doubled England’s advantage.
Saka added two more before half-time as Thomas Tuchel’s side entered the interval with an extraordinary 4-0 lead.
France threatened a remarkable comeback through Kylian Mbappé and Bradley Barcola, reducing the deficit to one goal midway through the second half.
Saka completes historic World Cup hat-trick
Saka restored England’s two-goal advantage from the penalty spot after Malo Gusto was penalised for bringing down Djed Spence.
The treble made him only the fourth England player to score a World Cup hat-trick. He also became the first since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966 to achieve the feat during a knockout match.
According to the Associated Press match report, the ten-goal contest was the highest-scoring World Cup third-place game in history.
Ousmane Dembélé struck France’s fourth before Jude Bellingham completed the scoring deep into added time.
The performance provided a emphatic response after Saka and England suffered semi-final heartbreak against Argentina.
Read Arsenal had previously covered calls for Tuchel to rest Saka and Rice following their demanding tournament workloads.
Instead, both players started and made decisive contributions as England recorded their best World Cup finish since lifting the trophy in 1966.
