**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 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](https://apnews.com/article/52f94eda6ff6d268d38aaefbc446c525), 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](https://readarsenal.com/2026/07/18/arsenal-stars-could-be-spared-after-blunt-joe-hart-warning/) 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.