Bukayo Saka reflects on missed World Cup opportunity after England hat-trick in bronze medal match

Saka (37', 45+1', 87' P) was the star of a chaotic clash at the Miami Stadium on Saturday where Declan Rice opened the scoring after just two minutes.

Ezri Konsa's header on 18 minutes and Saka's first-half brace put England four-nil up at the break, but a second half France comeback threatened to spoil the celebrations as Kylian Mbappe (48', 66') and Bradley Barcola (54') reduced the deficit to just one goal.

Saka though completed his hat-trick from the spot and Jude Bellingham (90+8') also weighed in with a late goal to negate a late strike from Ousmane Dembele (90+6').

The Arsenal winger was excellent throughout the match, having been omitted from the 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Thomas Tuchel opted to start Morgan Rogers instead and left Saka on the bench for the entire match as he went defensive after England had taken a 1-0 lead in the game.

Ezri Konsa, Nico O'Reilly and Dan Burn were all introduced ahead of Saka, while Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney were only thrown on for the last seconds of the tie.

"Of course, I would love to have played more," Saka told the BBC after the game. "But of course, it's not the time to talk about out that now. I try to do my talking on the pitch. It's done now. Move on."

When asked about his fitness, the player added: "Yeah. I'm fit. I'm fit."

Reflecting on Saka's absence from the semi, Tuchel explained: "He did everything right. I had just a feeling in the semi-final for Morgan Rogers that he would be involved in something special. That was it.

"The [Argentina] game was so in demand that we were forced into changes because of cramps and flow of the game.

"Bukayo showed he was a key player, that was never a doubt. I was not even aware he had a hat-trick [against France]. I lost the overview of the goalscorers."

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