MIAMI, July 18 (Reuters) – England held off a stunning France fightback to claim a 6-4 victory in a madcap Miami thriller on Saturday, securing third place for their best World Cup finish since their sole title triumph in 1966.
In a match where defending was a second thought, Kylian Mbappe scored two goals to become the top scorer of all time in World Cups as France battled back from 4-0 down to come within a handful of missed chances of equalising.
Bukayo Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot three minutes from time to make it 5-3 and calm England’s nerves, having scored twice in the first half after goals from Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa had given England the perfect start.
There was still time for a late strike from Ousmane Dembele to offer France some hope, but late substitute Jude Bellingham snuffed it out with his seventh goal of the tournament deep into stoppage time.
The total of 10 goals was the highest for a third-place playoff match, bettering France’s 6-3 victory over West Germany at the 1958 tournament.
France, hoping to send 2018 World Cup-winning coach Didier Deschamps home with a victory in his final match in charge, exploded into life in the second half with Mbappe’s double taking his tournament tally to 10 goals.
That took him two ahead of Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and saw him pass the Argentine as the all-time World Cup leading scorer with 22.
The 39-year-old Messi will have one more chance to bump up his own tallies on Sunday when Argentina take on Spain in the final at New York New Jersey Stadium.
The clash to decide third place is the match that no team wants to play and both coaches rejigged their teams with Deschamps putting out a second-string defence.
Perhaps stung by criticism of England’s passivity in the latter stages of their semi-final loss to Argentina, Thomas Tuchel’s side attacked from kickoff with Rice charging forward to lash home the opening score as early as the third minute.
Even with Bellingham and Harry Kane on the bench, England played passes that went forward rather sideways and several split the French defence wide open.
The second half was all France, with Mbappe’s two goals either side of a Bradley Barcola strike reducing the deficit to 4-3 in the 66th minute.
England, on the ropes defensively, still tried to attack when the opportunity presented itself and secured third place for the first time after losing the playoff in 1990 and 2018.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in New York, editing by Ken Ferris)
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