Bukayo Saka has disclosed the words of encouragement from Jude Bellingham before he stepped up to score a hat-trick penalty in England's 6-4 victory over France in the World Cup bronze final. The Arsenal forward, who was an unused substitute in the semi-final defeat to Argentina, returned to the starting lineup and netted twice in a rampant first half that saw England lead 4-0.
First-half dominance and French fightback
Thomas Tuchel's side produced a blistering opening 45 minutes, with Saka scoring a brace among four goals. However, France mounted a dramatic comeback in the second half. Kylian Mbappe scored twice, either side of Bradley Barcola's goal, cutting England's lead to 4-3 with 30 minutes remaining. Les Bleus missed several clear chances to equalise before England won a penalty when Djed Spence was fouled by Malo Gusto.
Bellingham's selfless gesture
Jude Bellingham, introduced as a second-half substitute, initially grabbed the ball but quickly handed it to Saka, who converted to complete his hat-trick. Bellingham later added a solo goal in added time to seal the 6-4 win. Speaking to BBC Sport, Saka said: 'No, 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.'
A 'crazy' game and England's best finish in 60 years
Reflecting on the match, Saka described it as 'a crazy, crazy game.' He added: '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.' The 24-year-old started only two games before the third-place play-off due to an ongoing Achilles injury but expressed his desire for more playing time. '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,' he said.
Support for Tuchel amid criticism
Saka also defended manager Thomas Tuchel, who faced criticism after England's semi-final defeat. 'I think that's just part of the game. 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. We built and built across the tournament. We had some amazing results and in the end we fell short against Argentina. It hurts a lot to all of us and I'm sure it's the same to the fans back home but we have to hold our head high and focus on the next one,' Saka concluded.
