Thomas Tuchel sends strong message on England’s World Cup win over France
England didn’t bring the World Cup home at this year’s event, and instead settled for a convincing 6-4 victory over France on Saturday to secure third-place in the tournament.
Following criticism about his coaching job after England’s loss to Lionel Messi and Argentina in the semifinals, England boss Thomas Tuchel spoke about how his team is closing the gap with the world’s best teams.
“You can see I think everything. We have the ability to close [the gap] …They have the ability to open it again. Listen, eight years ago they were the champions. Four years ago, they were in the finals. They’re in the [UEFA] Nations League final. So there is a slight gap, but there’s no problem. We want to close it. I said yesterday, ‘Today is the first step to close it.’ We did it, we beat them,” Tuchel said in his postgame interview, per Fox Sports. “The next one will be against Spain in Nations League.”
Tuchel’s side opened up the first half by absolutely dominating France en route to a 4-0 halftime lead. Declan Rice scored at the three-minute mark to set the tone, and Ezri Konsa added another goal 15 minutes later. Bukayo Saka then added another two goals before halftime.
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However, Kylian Mbappe and France woke up in the second half. Mbappe scored two goals, with one at the 48-minute mark and another at 66 minutes, to narrow England’s lead. That also gave him the all-time goals scored record for his World Cup career.
Bradley Barcola’s goal at 54 minutes helped cut down the lead even more, but England was ready for the battle on the pitch. They received a third goal from Saka on a penalty at 87 minutes.
Ousmane Dembele answered with another goal for France to make England’s lead 5-4, six minutes into stoppage time, but Jude Bellingham responded with a goal two minutes later to seal the win.
It was a massive momentum builder for a team that many criticized heavily after their collapse against Messi and Argentina. Tuchel accepted full responsibility for his coaching decisions, particularly with regard to the second-half substitutions he made.
Many individuals slammed Tuchel for subbing out various key players in the second half, as England only led 1-0. They ultimately surrendered two goals, starting with Enzo Fernandez’s equalizer at the 85-minute mark, and followed by Lautaro Martínez’s game-winner at two minutes into stoppage time.
However, Saturday’s third-place win over France provided a major boost in confidence for England as they head into the UEFA Nations League. They’ll host Spain at Wembley Stadium on Sept. 26 in a massive clash between two of the final four teams at this year’s World Cup.
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