England claim World Cup bronze as Saka nets treble in 6-4 thriller against France

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — England finished third at the World Cup with a 6-4 victory over France on Saturday, driven by a Bukayo Saka hat-trick, as France’s Kylian Mbappé moved past Lionel Messi on the all-time World Cup scoring chart and seized the Golden Boot lead with two goals after the break.

The contest produced more goals than any World Cup fixture since Hungary’s 10-1 defeat of El Salvador in 1982, and set a new high for a third-place playoff with 10 goals in total.

Saka struck in the 37th minute and again in first-half added time before converting an 87th-minute penalty to complete his second hat-trick for England. Declan Rice and Ezri Konsa also found the net as the Three Lions raced into a 4-0 lead by half-time, delivering their strongest World Cup placing since the 1966 triumph that remains their sole title.

Jude Bellingham sealed the result in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time, bringing his tournament tally to seven.

Mbappé’s career World Cup total rose to 22, one clear of Messi. He ended the finals with 10 goals — two more than Messi in the Golden Boot standings, which honour the competition’s leading scorer.

Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé supplied France’s other goals.