In a game that was criticised as a match that nobody wanted to play, England and France combined to produce a 10-goal World Cup classic in the bronze final in Miami.

Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick, and Jude Bellingham set a new England World Cup scoring record as the Three Lions defeated Les Bleus 6-4.

England roared into a 4-0 first-half lead, only to be pegged back to 4-3 by a thrilling second-half fightback from France to set up a back-and-forth battle in the match’s closing minutes, with both sides trading goals before Jude Bellingham put the seal on a quite spectacular 6-4 win.

The first half undeniably belonged to England, who started fast, with captain Declan Rice surging forward and planting a long-range effort into the far corner to put England into a third-minute lead. Then Rice helped contribute to England’s second, with his corner headed into the far corner by a leaping Ezri Konsa on 18 minutes.

It looked like England could score with almost every attack, and a breakaway fronted by Marcus Rashford led to Saka adding a third on 37 minutes, and the Arsenal winger added a second in first-half stoppage time as he took possession on the edge of the area and finished superbly to send England into the dressing room 4-0 up.

If the first half belonged to England, the second was dominated by France, as Didier Deschamps made a raft of changes, and saw immediate improvements as his side came surging back into the game.

Kylian Mbappe scored either side of a Bradley Barcola effort as France threatened to completely wipe out England’s first-half lead. But despite their superior pace and creativity in the final third, they could not take full advantage of their chances, with Michael Olise guilty of two crucial misses as the French forced England onto the back foot.

England needed a change of impetus, and Thomas Tuchel turned to his bench, with the introduction of Bellingham and Elliot Anderson helping bring them back into the game. It set up a breathless final 10 minutes, with the action swinging from one end of the pitch to the other.

A lung-busting run from Djed Spence led to him being brought down in the box as England earned an 87th-minute penalty, and Saka stepped up to calmly complete his hat-trick, but there was still more drama to come.

With the match in stoppage time, Ousmane Dembele added a superb fourth for France to give Les Bleus late hope. But with France pushing for a dramatic equaliser, England broke away again, and Bellingham skipped past two defenders to slam home England’s sixth and secure the victory with the last kick of the game. Bellingham’s strike was his seventh of the tournament, and saw him move beyond Harry Kane and Gary Lineker for the most goals scored by an English player in a World Cup.

It meant that, after one of the most entertaining matches in World Cup history, England ran out the victors by six goals to four, and claimed third place in the tournament – the second-best World Cup finish achieved by The Three Lions.