France 4-6 England: World Cup third-place playoff – as it happened

From

Here’s the match report on this most ludicrous of matches.

Key events

• 10h ago

  Full-time: France 4-6 England

• 10h ago

  Goal! France 4-6 England (Bellingham, 90+8)

• 10h ago

  Goal! France 4-5 England (Dembele, 90+6)

• 10h ago

  Goal! France 3-5 England (Saka, 86 pen, hat-trick)

• 10h ago

  Penalty to England!

• 11h ago

  Goal! France 3-4 England (Mbappe, 67)

• 11h ago

  Goal! France 2-4 England (Barcola, 54)

• 11h ago

  Goal! France 1-4 England (Mbappe, 48)

• 11h ago

  Half-time: France 0-4 England

• 11h ago

  Goal! France 0-4 England (Saka, 45+1)

• 11h ago

  Goal! France 0-3 England (Saka, 37)

• 12h ago

  Goal! France 0-2 England (Konsa, 19)

• 12h ago

  Saka goal disallowed...

• 12h ago

  Goal! France 0-1 England (Rice, 3)

• 12h ago

  We are go in Miami....

• 12h ago

  Wenger denies impact of hydration breaks

• 13h ago

  France v England teams

• 14h ago

  Preamble

So well done, England, and adieu Didier Deschamps, one of the greatest international coaches in history.

The England players are being presented with their bronze medals. Bronze is coming home. Jordan Henderson, the master of ceremonies, calls Jason Steele, the reserve-reserve keeper on, and presents him with a medal.

Thomas Tuchel also spoke to the BBC: “We had a brilliant first half and then a turbulent second half. You could see the difference of what one day makes and the difference in the schedule. We are so, so tired and drained from the last weeks.

“So a massive compliment and full respect - the mentality that we showed. Going through all the adversity is absolutely brilliant. I was afraid of the physical demands of the match. We know the quality and speed of France, and they have much less schedule for them. It was less demanding.

“They had one more day in-between the semi-final to digest, and they had way less travel distances than us. We played in the heat, at altitude. I was worried physically. You could see it in the second half, the cramps and all the tiredness, but I was never worried about the mentality.

“I have said it before, this team has created something very special, and they showed it again.”

Bukayo Saka spoke afterwards to the BBC: “It was a crazy, crazy game. We’re both still quite disappointed to not be in the final but it was about finishing strong and for us giving the country the best finish in the World Cup in 60 years, so we’re happy with the final result.

“I think the first half went for us. We won the first half, they won the second half and in the end we got the two goals to win the game, so I’d say that’s how the game went.”

“Jude was never taking it. He was the first one to say go and get your hat-trick, so none of them came to distract me. I was always going to take it.

Of course I would love to have played more but it’s too late to talk about that. I try to do my talking on the pitch and it’s done now, move on. I’m fit.”

On Thomas Tuchel “I think that’s just part of the game. When you win there’s going to be noise, when you win there’s going to be noise, it’s how you react to it, how you use it as fuel and today we finished strong and that’s all we could really do and we did that.”

Michael Olise *broke* the assists record set by Pele, by the way. He got seven, in more matches, admittedly.

Dougal gets in touch: “Not wishing to pour fuel on the fire, but….Bellingham scores and runs straight to the England bench to celebrate with the Jude-whisperer, Jordan Henderson. Cut to Tuchel, sitting on the bench. Not exactly close are they, the star player and his manager? Nice match but defending not brilliant. Cheers for all the great reportage, John.”

Here’s the match report on this most ludicrous of matches.

Andrew Harper, a voice of reason amid madness: “After the abuse meted out this week it needs to be said for the record - Thomas Tuchel has improved on Southgate and is England’s most successful coach since Alf Ramsey, if you use the not-unreasonable metric of performance at a World Cup. Fair’s fair.”

Kari Tulinius gets in touch: “Such an absurd and joyous spectacle! France played in the two best and most entertaining matches at the last two world cups, and it will take some final tomorrow for France not to extend their streak by one year. That said, it was Argentina that was their opponent in the 4-3 in 2018 and the 3-3 in ‘22. What a legacy for Deschamps!”

The records that fell: the highest scoring game since 1982, Kylian Mbappe becoming the highest World Cup scorer in history, Bukayo Saka joining the World Cup hat-trick club, Jude Bellingham becoming the first Englishman to score seven World Cup goals, Michael Olise equalling Pele’s assist record for a World Cup. So there’s that.

Can a third-place play-off be the best match of a tournament? The answer? Yes.

Full-time: France 4-6 England

The game that means nothing was one of the highlights of the tournament with records falling over the place. It ends with Thomas Tuchel and Didier Deschamps hugging with huge smiles. That was truly amazing.

Goal! France 4-6 England (Bellingham, 90+8)

This is real desperation. England cannot seem to hold on to the ball aside from one man: Jude Bellingham goes on and on, and cuts in and out, beating Lacroix, righting himself and scoring. That’s his seventh goal…

Goal! France 4-5 England (Dembele, 90+6)

Rayan Cherki, canned at half-time, has a haunted expression on the touchline. Jude Bellingham does some useful ball-carrying…but then loses it and Dembele, cutting in from the right, gets to an Upamecano pass and whips the ball home.

90+5 min: Dembele and Olise resume their rhythm and England are sat back deep, with Djed Spence making a clearance before then going down heavily. It looks like he’s pulled something. England down to 10.

90+3 min: The ref does England a solid by getting in the way when the ball is set back for a France shot. Trevoh Chalobah is coming on, the late replacement being a late replacement. Only Kobbie Mainoo with no minutes of the outfield players.

90+1 min: Seven minutes seems low. As Darren Fletcher told us, the ref needed a “rub down” in the second half.

90 min: England remain open to French attacks. There’s plenty of football left to be played. Barcola forces a corner. There will be seven minutes added. Gusto goes off, Kounde on for France.

88 min: Will that decide it? That seems unlikely. How did England get back in a winning position? By attacking. So then, about Atlanta, and those French misses.

87 min: It should be noted that Bellingham passed up the chance to score his seventh goal, the most ever by an Englishman at a World Cup. Saka follows Hurst, Lineker and Kane as an Englishman with a hat-trick.

Goal! France 3-5 England (Saka, 86 pen, hat-trick)

It looks like Bellingham will take it, but then the ball is with Saka, for his hat-trick. The run-up is short but the penalty is true and to the right.

Penalty to England!

85 min: Spence gallops onwards, and Gusto slides in and catches him. A definite penalty.

84 min: Anderson chases gamely, but France look so much more full of zest. Mbappe skids a shot from distance that Henderson fields with comfort.

83 min: Quansah is down, and will be replaced by James once he gets up. How this game is still 4-3 is beyond all logic.

81 min: Bellingham is soon involved, in releasing Watkins, and then following up, gliding on but suddenly losing the momentum. Within seconds, France go close to their fourth. It seems as Olise must score as the ball is laid into his path. But it goes wide. Somehow. How did that go wide?

80 min: Eze and Toney depart, as Anderson and Bellingham come on, to try and block up the midfield.

78 min: France free-kick, English boots swing and miss before Eze hoofs clear. Seen this movie before? There is no out-ball for England.

77 min: So too is Elliot Anderson. England need someone to block up the plughole. This pressure is almost as intense as that they faced in Atlanta.

76 min: Mbappe bobs and weaves, and falls, with Rogers having hold of his shirt. Though it looks as if Mbappe was similarly guilty. Jude Bellingham is imminent.

74 min: Olise is now level with Pele on assists and might have had a goal, only for him to slash wide after Gusto’s excellent pass. France want this, their ennui of the first 45 a distant memory.

73 min: Ivan Toney is down, following some rough stuff from Upamecano. The referee asks him to get back up.

71 min: No Kane, no Bellingham yet, though there is some warming up in session. How can England stop losing the ball? Bit of fun shared between Marc Guehi and Michael Olise; it’s been a Crystal Palace masterclass on both teams.

69 min: Brian gets in touch: “Long goal kicks: when you care enough to say to the opponent “Here, we don’t like the ball, you have it. Now hurt us, please!”

”It did a lot to cost them the game against Argentina and here we go again. Unfortunately Pickford is hopeless with the ball at his feet so I guess they don’t have a choice.”

68 min: There was almost another, as Mbappe just fails to reach out a telescopic leg to collect a pass. Here’s the hydration break. Thomas Tuchel’s future may rest on this.

Goal! France 3-4 England (Mbappe, 67)

The history man does it, the all-time World Cup goalscorer, and the all-time assists, from Olise. Mbappe lashes it home with his left. Oh France, oh England.

65 min: Thomas Tuchel has not been a fan of Jordan Pickford’s kicking but Henderson’s has been similarly afflicted. His saves have been fine, and his defenders bail him out when Mbappe makes a mess of a backheel. England try to counter too quickly.

64 min: Watkins has seen plenty of the ball in linking up with Eze; England are trying not to sit back, mostly because they can’t. France look renewed, slick, and Dembele cuts inward, only to shoot at Henderson, who reads the danger well.

62 min: England try to keep the ball, buy some calm and collect their thoughts. Eventually, Toney almost gets to a Rice dink, only for some desperate French defending to block off the striker.

61 min: Richard Hirst asks: “Will Tuchel now be castigated for not parking the bus at 4-0?” France are as rampant as England were in the first half, and Olise is allowed to dance through and zip a shot wide. This is all very silly.

59 min: Maignan has to make a brilliant save from a Toney flick from a Rice corner that comes off Watkins and can only be clawed away. That keeps France in the contest.

58 min: From being a glorified friendly, there’s a bit of needle here. England need to do some attacking, and Djed Spence, as ever, leads the effort, before Upamecano makes a saving tackle.

56 min: Oh my, this game is so ridiculous. Dembele escapes on the left, and Henderson, who makes a fine save. One that meets the approval of Jordan Pickford. There was an offside, so the danger would have been cleared, though Henderson doesn’t know that.

55 min: They couldn’t, could they? They probably could. And to lose from this position, well, Thomas Tuchel’s name will be the deepest hue of mud.

Goal! France 2-4 England (Barcola, 54)

Uh oh! Eze goes on a solo run, and decides to chip Maignan from miles out. As soon as the ball is cleared, France go back on the attack and Barcola gallops on, and slots past Henderson.