England beat France 6-4 for World Cup bronze, Mbappé breaks Messi's all-time record

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France beaten 6-4 on ‘very emotional’ day for squad

‘This will help – but you never fully celebrate bronze’

Thomas Tuchel has said England’s players can be proud of their efforts after a thrilling 6-4 victory over France sealed third place at the World Cup for the first time.

England raced into a 4-0 lead at half-time thanks to goals from Declan Rice – the stand-in captain – Ezri Konsa and two from Bukayo Saka. But they were pegged back to within one goal after Didier Deschamps, taking charge of his final France game after 14 years, rang the changes at the break. Kylian Mbappé took his tally at this tournament to 10 goals and 22 at World Cups in total as he pushed to win a second successive Golden Boot and surpassed Lionel Messi’s all-time record. The Argentina forward will have a chance to overhaul him in Sunday’s final against Spain.

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