*This content was translated by AI.
England, the "home of football," has won a World Cup medal for the first time in 60 years. Thomas Tuchel, manager of the England national team, expressed hope that the players will one day look back proudly on this tournament's results.
Reuters reported on the 19th (Korean time) that "although Manager Tuchel did not reach the goal of winning the World Cup, he hopes the players will one day look back proudly on their achievement of finishing third in this tournament."
On this day, England defeated France 6-4 in the CONCACAF World Cup third-place playoff held at Miami Stadium in the United States. With this victory, England achieved a fitting conclusion to its campaign and secured third place, its best result since winning the 1966 World Cup on home soil.
Earlier, England had been defeated 2-1 by Argentina, led by "the football god" Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), in the tournament's semi-finals. Trailing 1-0 at one point, England conceded two consecutive goals late in the second half and missed out on a spot in the final.
As a result, England failed to win its second World Cup title in history. However, Manager Tuchel emphasized that finishing third was still an achievement worthy of pride.
Manager Tuchel said, "This is our first medal in 60 years and the best result ever at a World Cup held outside England. I hope that after some time has passed, the players will be able to look back on this achievement with pride."
He continued, "We have an extremely strong competitive spirit. That's why even finishing third feels like something we cannot be proud of ourselves. We set the highest goal of reaching the final and winning the World Cup. Missing that target brings great pain. This pain will likely continue for some time."
England faced criticism for playing too passively after scoring the opening goal against Argentina. However, the approach was different in the match against France. Declan Rice (Arsenal) scored the first goal just three minutes into the game, and England scored four goals in the first half alone to take a 4-0 lead.
Manager Tuchel said, "Honestly, the atmosphere at yesterday's press conference felt as if we had been eliminated without winning a single match in the group stage. The best response we could give was to secure the next victory on the pitch. Everything else is just talk. You cannot earn points or victories with words."
He added, "I am pleased that the players responded. We wanted such a reaction, and they delivered an impressive performance."
England also set several records beyond finishing third in the World Cup. The team recorded six wins, one draw, and one loss in this tournament, setting a new record for the most victories in a single World Cup. While the increase in participating nations from 32 to 48 led to more matches being played, England still secured more wins than the five they achieved during their 1966 championship campaign.
The players also achieved impressive individual records. Key midfielder Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) scored seven goals in this tournament. This is the highest number of goals ever scored by an England player in a single major tournament, including both the World Cup and the European Championship.
The previous record was six goals, set by Gary Lineker at the 1986 Mexico World Cup and Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) at the 2018 Russia World Cup. Kane also scored six goals in this CONCACAF World Cup.
Forward Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) scored a hat-trick against France, becoming only the fourth England player to score three goals in a single World Cup match.
This is the second time an England player has scored a hat-trick in a World Cup knockout-stage match. Previously, the "legend" Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick in the 1966 final on home soil, leading England to their only World Cup title.
Saka also set a record as the second player ever to score a hat-trick against France in a World Cup match. The first was Brazil's legend Pelé, who scored three goals against France in the 1958 World Cup semi-final.
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*This content was translated by AI.
