Bukayo Saka has disclosed the words of encouragement from Jude Bellingham before he stepped up to score his third goal in England's thrilling 6-4 victory over France in the World Cup third-place play-off. Saka, who had been an unused substitute in the semi-final defeat to Argentina, returned to the starting lineup and delivered a first-half brace as England raced to a 4-0 lead. However, France mounted a comeback with goals from Kylian Mbappe (two) and Bradley Barcola, cutting the deficit to one goal. England were awarded a penalty after Djed Spence was fouled by Malo Gusto, and Bellingham, a second-half substitute, quickly grabbed the ball but handed it to Saka.
Bellingham's selfless gesture
Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Saka clarified that Bellingham never intended to take the penalty himself. '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.' Saka converted the penalty to complete his hat-trick, and Bellingham later added a solo goal in added time to seal the remarkable win.
A crazy game
Reflecting on the match, Saka said: '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.'
Saka's injury and limited minutes
Saka started only two games before the third-place play-off, having arrived at the tournament with an ongoing Achilles injury from the end of the club season. The 24-year-old suggested he was fit and would have liked 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.'
Support for Tuchel
Saka also voiced support for manager Thomas Tuchel, who faced criticism after England's semi-final exit. '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.'
