FIFA World Cup: Saka strikes hat-trick; Mbappe slips away from Messi in a bona fide thriller

6 min readNew JerseyJul 19, 2026 06:36 AM The minds stalked the past, treading the grey lines between what could have or what should have been. But the eyes wandered into the future, what could, what abounded for the two teams that lost the semifinals in dinctive ways. France lost in tactics; England lost in the weight of emotions. Both combined to produce a wild thriller, a tennis set score of 6-4 in England’s favour, which could have made a sure-shot case to enter the thriller hall of fame, had it not been for the peculiarly intrinsic nature of third-place games, struck between a formality and a ghost match.
The spectators were absurdly entertained, there was a goal every tenth minute if the stoppage allowances were taken into account. Bukayo Saka, confined to cameos in the knockouts, as he was not optimally fit, pummeled the lapses  in French defence, seemingly disinterested, the 90 minutes on the field a punishment for the collective shutdown against Spain. In the second half, it was England’s to be sloppy, which France punished blasting four goals.
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Two came from the flashing boots of Kylian Mbappe, who pulled two goals away from Lionel Messi to lead the golden boot race. He joined him in the table of most goals scored (21) in the hory of the tournament as well. But no plaque or statical feat would soothe his pain of not lifting the World Cup, after France had looked flawless till they bumped into Spain. He shook his head dejectedly when the final whle blew, not because France lost the game and a place on the podium, but because he wouldn’t be playing the final on Sunday.
England finished with the bronze-medal match during the World Cup third-place playoff against France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
England’s celebrations, too, were restrained. Handshakes and hugs were cold; they laboured to the fans’ enclosure and applauded them. They put on forced smiles when on the podium. The eyes were hollow. The bronze medal hung uncomfortably in their necks, the mind longed for one of different shade. It was their best finish since winning the World Cup, the it could have been all too different but for the last six minutes of the Argentina game. The bronze would remind them of a scar.
The past kept dragging back irreversibly.  During the presentation ceremony, Saka was probed on his perceived criticism of manager Thomas Tuchel. He dead-batted: “I think it’s just part of the game. You know when you lose there’s always gonna be noise. When you win. There’s gonna be noise … there is always noise.” In a different world, the hat-trick would have been a redemption for his penalty miss in Euro2020. Tuchel, whose England future remains uncertain, cribbed on the taxing schedule. “They (France) had one more day in-between the semi-final to digest, and they had way less travel dances than us. We played in the heat, at altitude. I was worried physically. You could see it in the second half, the cramps and all the tiredness, but I was never worried about the mentality.” His parting line seemed a self-appraisal of a soon-to-be-fired employee. “I have said it before, this team has created something very special, and they showed it again,” he said. The critics in England and the fans back home would passionately differ.
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His French counterpart Didier Deschamps, whom he hugged tightly in a moment of heightened emotion, would invariably leave, as he had announced before the tournament. He leaves France with a rich legacy and enviable array of attacking riches, which in the hands of a foresightful successor could be a dynastic force. Mbappe’s tribute to Deschamps before the game summed up his shaping influence on Mbappe and the group. “Today is your last dance. You, who have given us so much. We should have given you a better ending, but we failed,” he wrote. Barring Ousmane Dembele, 29, all of his attackers are not yet in their peak years, yet magnificent.Story continues below this ad
France’s Kylian Mbappe (10) scores his side’s third goal as during the World Cup third-place playoff match. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
But if only they possessed similar defensive resources. They require a backline overhaul. The crew of fullbacks are either ageing. The once effervescent Theo Hernandez has lost his pace, Lucas Digne is not mobile enough to deal with a high pressing team like Spain. Jules Kounde, whether fully fit or not, could be ponderous. Willliam Saliba needs a quicker centre-back ally than Dayot Upamecano.
Whether England pers with Tuchel or not, England have a vibrant nucleus to build on for their next tournament. Saka, perhaps smarting from the angst of being overlooked for the semifinal, showed the influence he could be, weaving and bobbing through the French defence like a knife slicing a pudding. Both his goals were supreme exhibitions of his minimalism and clarity of thought. He is only 24, Morgan Rogers is a year younger, as is Jude Bellingham, who had an exceptional campaign but for the hyper-emotional semifinal. Declan Rice is 27. At some juncture, the ageing sinews of Harry Kane, John Stones and Jordan Pickford would be phased away. But England has durbing depth in talent to be title chasers in the next Euro and beyond.
Thus, once the disappointment abates, ruing and rumination sink, emotions concede to realic stock-checking, France and England would realise that the heartbreaks they suffered could only embolden them in the future, packaging them into a more durable product.