Declan Rice captains England to third place at the World Cup as Arsenal midfielder chips in with a strike on his 80th international appearance as Saka grabs history-making treble in astonishing clas
England 6-4 France: Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka grabs treble as Three Lions end World Cup in third place
Declan Rice captains England to third place at the World Cup as Arsenal midfielder chips in with a strike on his 80th international appearance as Saka grabs history-making treble in astonishing clash in Miami heat
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Bukayo Saka scored an historic treble as England beat France 6-4 in an astonishing game in Miami.
A hat trick by Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka during England’s astonishing 6-4 victory over France sealed third place at the 2026 World Cup, as the Three Lions ended the tournament on a high in the heat of Miami.
First half goals from Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and a pair from Bukayo Saka blasted Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup semi-final losers into a four-goal lead at the break in front of 64,478 fans against a completely disinterested French side still smarting from their last four loss to Spain.
Yet, after Didier Deschamps made four substitutions at the interval, after a French side trailed by four goals at half time for the first time since April 1930, Les Bleus were a different proposition in the second half. Kylian Mbappe bagging a brace to move two clear of Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot with ten, that also saw Bradley Barcola chipping in with a strike to pull three goals back by the 66th minute, and make the scoreline 4-3 before the hydration break.
Saka made the most of the miss in a frenetic clash when he hit his second international treble to make it 5-3 – becoming only the second England player after Sir Geoff Hurst to net a World Cup treble - slotting past Mike Maignan in the 87th minute, after Djed Spence was brought down by Malo Gusto. Incredibly, there was still time for Ousamane Dembele to make it 5-4, prior to England substitute Jude Bellingham made it 6-4 in the eighth minute of injury time to cap a breathless match that ended with the most goals scored in a World Cup game since Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in Spain back in 1982. The play-off, now billed somewhat grandiosely as the ‘bronze final’ also became the highest scoring third place match in the history of the tournament, surpassing France 6-3 West Germany in 1958.
Speaking after the match, Tuchel insisted: “It’s the first [World Cup] medal for 60 years, first [at a] World Cup on foreign soil, and I hope the players can be proud of that at some point. We set ourselves the highest dream to chase, and we were very, very ambitious with our dream to make the final in the World Cup. So it’s very, very painful if you miss out, the pain will stay for a while.”
However, the main taking point was the under-fire England boss Tuchel opting to start the exhausted Rice - who he named as captain - in the meaningless third place play-off in Florida on Saturday afternoon.
Tuchel made seven changes to the England side that was knocked out of the semi-finals by Argentina in a bitterly disappointing ending in Atlanta on Wednesday.
Even if Arsenal supporters everywhere would have insisted the faltering Tuchel needed locking up in the Sheriff of Dade County’s distinctive black and white squad cars that were dotted around this stadium 10 miles from the centre of Miami, after picking Rice and Saka to start.
Tuchel deciding to pick the exhausted but always team-spirited Rice was sure to be a frustration for the midfielder’s club boss, Mikel Arteta, after the Premier League winner made it a debilitating 69 games for club and country after playing non-stop for 12 months. It seemed perverse for Tuchel to include the £105m former West Ham midfielder in his side considering the 25-year-old has been nursing a back/hamstring complaint, as well dealing a debilitating sickness bug last week.
For the German boss, who badly sullied his reputation with such a negative mindset that cost the Three Lions the game against Lionel Messi’s side in midweek, also opting to start with the struggling Saka in his starting XI, with the Gunners wideman clearly not fit either, seemed as perverse as it was pointless.
By starting Rice and Saka, Tuchel seriously endangering their opening four months of the season, which to those of an Arsenal sensibility was simply unacceptable.
With humidity levels in Florida up in the high 80s, it was also instructive that Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham were left on the bench.
The stubborn decision brought to mind Arsene Wenger’s famous line about then French boss Raymond Domenech, who, when playing Thierry Henry in a meaningless friendly, prompted the Gunners long-serving urbane Frenchman to note it was like borrowing a car and returning it with an empty tank.
Tuchel was seriously mistaken if he thought England finishing third (as opposed to fourth) made the slightest jot of difference to fans, although admittedly it was strange to see a Three Lions team on a winner’s podium, with the team generously insisting all backroom staff also join them as they collected their bronze medals.
Speaking after the match, a defiant Tuchel said: “We built something very special in the last seven weeks, and we’ll never negotiate on that. I still stand by my words, that we need to play better football, manage games better under pressure, take better decisions under pressure. We need to defend more economically.”
As for the match itself, leading England in his 80th international, Rice powered through the middle before curling an effort low into the far corner past France keeper Mike Maignan to put the Three Lions 1-0 up after only 180 seconds on a sweltering afternoon in Dade County, Miami.
Dean Henderson, in for Jordan Pickford, for the first tournament game the Everton keeper has missed since Euro 2016, did well to keep out Rayan Cherki’s 11th minute effort in a lively start by both sides. That was after Bukayo Saka had a goal disallowed moments earlier after being correctly though fractionally ruled out for offside.
Ezri Konsa met Rice’s corner to steer the ball past Maignan and into the far corner to double England’s lead on 18 minutes.
Just after the half hour mark, Henderson saved well from Mbappe before England made it 3-0 on 37 minutes, when Saka slotted home from Marcus Rashford’s cross, after Maignan denied the Manchester United attacker moments earlier, following a sweeping break from Dean Henderson’s save. The Three Lions three up against the world No1? If only this game actually meant something.
Worse was to come for Didier Deschamps – who also made seven changes – when taking charge of his 187th and final match as France head coach, including a record breaking 27th in the World Cup, when Saka fired past the underwhelming Maignan to make it 4-0 on the stroke of half time after latching onto Eberechi Eze’s perceptive through ball. France conceding four first-half goals for the first time since a European Championship qualification match against Yugoslavia in April, 1968.
As the whistle blew the beleaguered Maignan couldn’t wait to get off the pitch, even if, no-one should have been fooled that this France side was anything other than mentally already on the plane home to enjoy a well-deserved rest.
Perversely, Tuchel decided to keep Rice on the pitch at the start of the second half, while bringing Ollie Watkins on for Rashford at the interval. Deschamps preferring to make four changes, amplifying the fact Saka and Rice were still out there playing in 80-degree humidity. What was Tuchel thinking?
As if to underline the point still further, Kylian Mbappe slotted side-footed across Henderson to pull a goal back moments after half time and make it 4-1.
On 54 minutes Bradley Barcola pulled a second goal back for France to make it 4-2, when beating Henderson at his near post, before Henderson then blocked Dembele’s powerfully struck effort as Michael Olise’s effort flew over. That was before the majestic Mbappe made it 4-3 to become the first player to hit double figures in a World Cup since the legendary Gerd Muller for West Germany in Mexico in 1970.
Michael Olise went desperately close to improbably levelling with 10 minutes remaining, but his fierce effort flew agonisingly wide, as France attempted to gain a semblance of pride, if nothing else in this relentlessly inconsequential play-off for ‘bronze’.
That was before Saka had other ideas in grabbing the second treble of his England career after his trio against North Macedonia at Old Trafford in June 2023, prior to Dembele making it 5-4, before Bellingham gave proceedings a tennis score when making it 6-4, as France conceded six goals for the first time in a World Cup match, and 66 years since it occurred at all, as the slipped to their first competitive loss against England since 1982. No wonder England had 38 shots in total, including 20 on target, another record, the 10 goals scored making this hectic clash the joint fifth highest-scoring game in the tournament’s 96-year history.
Speaking after the hero Arsenal and England’s starboy Saka said humbly: “We fell short against Argentina. It hurts a lot. I’m sure it’s the same for the fans back home. We have to hold our heads high and move on. Obviously we’re both quite disappointed to not be in the final but it was about finishing strong and for us giving the country the best position in the World Cup they have finished for 60 years, so we’re happy with the final result.”
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