MIAMI, July 19 — Thomas Tuchel said England had taken their first step in closing the gap on the top football nations after edging a 10-goal thriller against France to finish third at the 2026 tournament.

Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick in an entertaining 6-4 win in the heat of Miami while France’s Kylian Mbappe became the leading scorer in World Cup history by netting twice.

Tuchel spoke on the eve of the match about the pain of England’s 2-1 semi-final defeat by Argentina on Wednesday, stressing the need to close the gap to the defending champions as well as France and Spain.

The German, who has faced a torrent of criticism from the English media over his cautious tactics in the Argentina defeat, said England had made progress with their win against France.

“We have the ability to close it, but they have the ability to open it up again,” he told the BBC.

“Eight years ago, they (France) were the champions. Four years ago, they were in the final. There is a slight gap, but no problem. We want to close it.

“I said yesterday today is the first step to closing it. We did it. We beat them. The next one will be Spain in the Nations League.

“To see a team fight like this gives you energy. The tiredness will come after. We will still feel the pain when tomorrow is the final. This will take a while, but overall, it gives me more energy than it takes from me.” — AFP