Flicks, tricks and no defending. England v France was an all-time classic

Miami: England played in the craziest match of the World Cup as they defeated France in a 10-goal thriller to win the bronze medal on Saturday (Sunday, AEST).

At one stage, they looked like throwing away a four-goal lead at the Hard Rock Stadium, before seeing out a 6-4 win and securing their best finish at the tournament since winning in 1966.

Here’s a look at the madness in Miami during the third-place play-off.

Attacking intent

There were eyebrows raised when Declan Rice was selected despite his 68 previous games this season. He has described it as an “obscene” amount of matches but was called upon for one last effort and was charging forward in the first few minutes, intercepting a pass and curling into the bottom corner to kick off the scoring.

But England were not done – there was no sitting back on their lead as they did against Argentina. England manager Thomas Tuchel’s attackers were pouring forward and getting behind the French defence with balls over the top. Ezri Konsa and Bukayo Saka (twice) were on the scoresheet by half-time.

The French not turning up

As good as England were in that first 45 minutes, it was clear that France were already on the beach following their defeat by Spain in the semi-final earlier in the week. Players who were used to high-intensity pressing were allowing white shirts to walk past them with the ball.

By the break, Saka had run 1.4km more than Kylian Mbappe. This was Didier Deschamps’s final game in charge of Les Bleus, but players were treating it like an exhibition match. Flicks, tricks and no defending.

The best half-time interview

The half-time interview is another of FIFA’s new ideas. They have largely just been anodyne, aside from when Anthony Barry is in front of the camera. Tuchel’s assistant has been a breath of fresh air with his honesty and fought back the tears when analysing England’s first 45 minutes.

“I am a little bit emotional, I can’t find the words to describe just how proud I am of these players,” said Barry. “They are playing a game out on the field with broken hearts, I see 11 lads out on the field with broken hearts, I’ve seen them in the hotel last few days – broken hearts.”

France go through the gears

France decided to step it up after the half-time interval, with Deschamps calling for Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola off the bench to lead their attack. Immediately, England were on the back foot despite being four goals up. Mbappe decided to show up too, pulling one back and celebrating with body language that suggested: we’re still in this. Barcola also found the net.

This was Didier Deschamps’s final game in charge of Les Bleus, but players were treating it like an exhibition match.

Mbappe takes command of Golden Boot race

Mbappe’s double means he has overtaken Lionel Messi as the highest-scoring player in World Cup history, with 22. There is a question over whether goals in the third-placed play-off should count, but as it stands, they most certainly do. The Frenchman now has 10 at this tournament, two ahead of Messi – who plays in the final on Sunday.

It is the first time a player has reached double figures in one tournament since Gerd Müller for West Germany. Michael Olise set up his two goals and that made the former Crystal Palace midfielder the most creative World Cup player in the last 60 years with his seven assists.

England fail to learn lessons from semi-final ...

This ended in victory for England, but there were red flags too with how France were allowed back in the game. Tuchel’s team dropped deep just like they did in Atlanta when they took the lead against Argentina. Tuchel says one of the big problems England face is how they play when the pressure is on. And once France started trying, they made England buckle again.

... but getting over the line

For the final 11 minutes, Tuchel called for his “starters” who had been rested on the bench. Jude Bellingham came on, to the delight of the neutral fans in attendance.

Elliot Anderson also came off the bench to try and keep the ball in central midfield, shifting the formation after England were in a 4-4-2. It was Djed Spence, one of England’s breakout stars of the tournament, who earned a penalty when the game was in the balance.

Saka’s history-making hat-trick

Bellingham has been “protecting the ball” for penalties, standing over the spot and holding the ball so opponents cannot get in the ear of England’s actual taker. He did this for Harry Kane earlier in the tournament. But with Kane rested, Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot. The Arsenal forward was an unused sub against Argentina but made history with his hat-trick here, joining Geoff Hurst, Gary Lineker and Kane as England players with World Cup hat-tricks to their name.

Stoppage-time chaos

Dembele set up a frantic final few minutes when he found the net, finishing off a counter-attack started by Dayot Upamecano. There was still time for Bellingham to round off his stunning cameo with a spectacular goal, running through the France defence and dummying the goalkeeper before finding the net.

The Telegraph, London