England "brilliant" for 45 minutes: Tuchel explains the collapse

England secured third place in the highest-scoring match of the World Cup, thanks to a brilliant first-half performance against France (match report >>>).

"A crazy game. We were disappointed not to be in the final, but we wanted to finish the tournament well," explained hat-trick scorer Saka after the 6-4 victory, in which both coaches made seven changes compared to their last encounter.

Tuchel justified this with the team's fatigue, stating he wanted to "bring in fresh legs."

England overwhelmed France in the first half

In just the third minute, Rice scored England's first goal against the seemingly unmotivated French. Konsa (18.) and Saka (37., 45.+1) added further goals. "We won the first half," Saka commented.

Coach Tuchel agreed. He described the first half as "brilliant," while the second was "turbulent."

Because after the break, Deschamps' team showed a different face. Thanks to goals from Mbappé (48., 66.) and Barcola (54.), the team closed the gap to 3-4.

"Lucky we didn't concede the equalizer"

"France was in full flow at that point; we were lucky we didn't concede the equalizer," analyzed the coach, who substituted Anderson and Bellingham in the 78th minute and later brought on James and Chalobah.

In the 87th minute, Saka converted a penalty for what seemed to be the decisive goal, but Dembélé (90.+6) briefly brought his team back into the game before Bellingham (90.+8) finally sealed the victory.

Tuchel raves about the team's mentality

Ultimately, England celebrated third place in a crazy match. Tuchel, however, was concerned that the strain and fatigue might prevent them from securing the win.

In the end, he praised his team: "We are really tired from the last few weeks, so a big compliment to the mentality we showed."

Match-winner Saka appeared "happy" after the game. He emphasized: "We finished strong."