England give Tuchel exactly what he needed with crazy France win in World Cup finale

View 2 Images

This was one of the craziest, most madcap games you will ever see. And yet, somehow, at the end of it England produced a glorious victory to seal their best ever World Cup performance on foreign soil.

Bukayo Saka scored a hat trick in a stunning display

as England overwhelmed France, survived an almighty scare of a second half comeback and then sealed third place in the tournament.

It almost felt fitting for Saka to steal the show because it has been a frustrating tournament for the Arsenal winger but he stepped in glorious fashion when England needed him most.

What a way for England to bow out and also provide a game-changer of a result to lift the mood around under-pressure Thomas Tuchel. And this was France after all. The team England wanted to face in the final - but they still produced in a crazy ten goal thriller in Miami.

It will genuinely go down as one of the best World Cup games in history and so much for the third place play-off being the game no-one wants. Well, not until you win it.

And also if it produces drama and entertainment like this then every football fan will sign up.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for England in this World Cup and especially for Tuchel who went from hero to zero after the semi final defeat to Argentina.

And this felt like a huge response from the players for their manager who actually

got booed by the England fans before kick-off

.

But England duly produced one of their best ever 45 minutes of football to go 4-0 up at half time when it felt like they were playing with pressure off and they also delivered the sort of football which Tuchel had demanded after Argentina.

However, the second half was crazy as France roared back - led by Kylian Mbappe who ended up taking his tally to ten as he leads the chase for the Golden Boot - and it almost felt inevitable they would equalise.

It went to 4-3, England were hanging on and can you just imagine if they had collapsed again? That would have been unbearable.

But in tense moments, big players step up and Saka scored from the spot and when France had the temerity to make it 5-4 in injury time, England’s man of the tournament, Jude Bellingham, sealed the win with a breakaway goal. Who else?

This really should do the trick for Tuchel as that third place finish is something they could not achieve in 1990 and 2018.

England made seven changes - including leaving out Harry Kane and Bellingham - and it was Declan Rice who wore the captain’s armband.

Rice won a ball off Desire Doue, charged forward and then picked his spot with a low shot into the far corner.

It was Rice who flighted over a corner for Ezri Konsa to head home. Saka scored after Marcus Rashford led a break and then the Arsenal winger got his second of the half after latching onto Eberechi Eze’s through ball.

But France were always going to come back. This was Didier Deschamps’ last game in charge. Surely he had put his out of office sign on too early.

Mbappe started the comeback just three minutes after the restart. Mbappe set up Bradley Barcola to score and England really lost their nerve. Mbappe made it 4-3 after 67 minutes.

Michael Olise missed a sitter to equalise. But then Malo Gusto brought down Djed Spence and Saka converted. Still there was time for Ousmane Dembele to make it 5-4.

So Bellingham charged up the other end and scored a breakaway goal to seal it. It has been an unforgettable tournament for England and Bellingham.

What a way to finish it. And Tuchel will know he owes his players a debt of gratitude because just as quickly as the mood turned sour, this felt like a big result for the England boss.

Content cannot be displayed without consent