England’s thrilling 6-4 win over France was a thrilling win for the Three Lions World Cup A bronze medal – their best result since winning the cup in 1966 – left Declan Rice insisting that major tournament success was “near”.
Despite criticism of Thomas Tuchel’s tactics since the agonizing semi-final collapse to Argentina, stand-in captain Rice was quick to praise England’s efforts in the tournament.
“This is England’s best group for a long time. That’s a fact. Nobody can take that away from us,” Rice said.
“I think we can be proud as a group – we are very sad to have lost in the semi-final.
“We’re tired of saying we’re proud of reaching the semi-finals and quarter-finals – we want to win with England eventually. But to come third in this tournament is a real achievement.”Nose and throat.
“We’re very close, honestly. There’s been a lot of talk about this group getting knocked out in the last few years. There’s been semi-finals, quarter-finals and tournament finals.”Syrian pound.
Tuchel’s Three Lions have faced enormous media scrutiny, especially regarding their preparation against Argentina under pressure.
Rice’s long-range strike in the third minute opened the scoring against France before Ezri Konsa doubled the Three Lions’ lead with a header 15 minutes later, and Bukayo Saka then scored twice before half-time.
Kylian Mbappe scored two goals to reach 10 goals in the 2026 edition, two goals ahead of Argentine Lionel Messi as the top scorer in the tournament. Ranking of scorers – Both sides of the French captain set up Bradley Barkola for shooting.
Those goals meant the 2018 champions reduced the deficit to 4-3 by the 66th minute of an often thrilling and ongoing encounter, but Michael Olise wasted a great chance before Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
Ousmane Dembele scored his sixth goal in the finals from inside the penalty area in the 96th minute, but Jude Bellingham danced in the crowd of players and scored his seventh goal of the tournament to ensure that England, who rested their top scorer Harry Kane, won the bronze medal.
Rice remains firmly convinced that the narrow gap between England and the ultimate prize will soon be bridged.
“I think we need to keep going. I think the game is close. It’s a game with small margins. It’s football and last night we lost on the margins and in the boxes.”
