England celebrating their bronze medal victory, the Three Lions' best result since their 1966 World Cup win. AFP/VNA Photos

Anh Đức

MIAMI — England and France treated their fans to a thrilling bronze medal game on Saturday, with a tennis-set scoreline of 6-4 going the way of the Three Lions.

In a game where the pre-match headlines revolved around no team wanting to play the third-place playoff, records were shattered all around as both teams went all out in attack with nothing to lose.

France, whose coach Didier Deschamps would end his 14-year tenure after the competition, fielded their best players in Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise, hoping to end their tournament on a high. England, on the other hand, gave unused substitutes such as Dean Henderson and Ivan Toney a chance in the starting line-up.

It was Thomas Tuchel's men who took the lead in the second minute. Declan Rice, who played his 69th game this season for both club and country, easily dribbled past the French defence and fired the ball into the bottom corner of Mike Maignan's net from just outside the box.

Fifteen minutes later, Rice proved his worth again with a pinpoint corner kick that found Ezri Konsa who headed in England's second.

Without William Saliba, who was injured in the match against Spain, France left spaces behind in the defence where England's speedy strikers capitalised. In the 37th minute on the counter, Marcus Rashford provided an assist for Bukayo Saka to score in a two-on-five situation.

Just before the break, Saka doubled his tally by converting a brilliant through ball from Arsenal teammate Eberechi Eze to make it 4-0 for England at half time.

The dominance of the Three Lions left fans questioning where this England team was during the last 30 minutes against Argentina and why Saka did not feature in the semifinal.

France subbed in Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola in the second half, and the change brought back the dangerous French attack that has scored 16 goals in this tournament.

Kylian Mbappe celebrates his second goal against England in the match on Saturday.

Kylian Mbappe scored twice in the 48th and 66th minutes to cut France's deficit to two goals, becoming the all-time World Cup top scorer with 22 goals, one goal more than Lionel Messi's record. The brace also put him at the top of the Golden Boot race with ten goals, making him only one of four men ever to score double digits in a World Cup. Between Mbappe's two goals, he also provided an assist to Bradley Barcola in the 54th minute.

The player who provided the two assists for Mbappe, England-born Michael Olise, broke a record on his own, as he surpassed the great Pele's record of most assists in a World Cup tournament, with seven assists to his name.

With three goals in the second half, the game went from a one-sided England affair to an intense chase. The last time France went down 0-4 in a game, they clawed back and only lost 5-4 in the Nations League game against Spain, and history seemed to be repeating itself.

Bukayo Saka (centre) celebrates his hat-trick with Jude Bellingham (left) and Reece James (right).

In the 87th minute, Djed Spence was brought down by Malo Gusto in the penalty area, and Saka completed his hat-trick from the spot, five years and eight days after he missed a crucial penalty in the 2020 Euro final. France made it 4-5 in the sixth minute of added time through Ousmane Dembele and pushed on forward, looking to bring the 'meaningless' third-place playoff to extra time.

But like it has happened time and time again in this tournament, when England needed it, a star rose. Jude Bellingham, who surprisingly started  the match from the bench, dribbled past three Frenchman on the counter and cemented England's victory with a sixth goal. Bellingham's goal broke a national team record, as he has the most goals in a tournament for an English player.

England's bronze medal win was also historical, as this was their first time on the podium since their World Cup home win in 1966.

The eyes of the world now turn to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where Spain play Argentina in the final. — VNS