Bukayo Saka said he feels proud after becoming only the fourth England player to score a hat-trick at the FIFA World Cup.
The Arsenal winger reached the milestone during England’s thrilling 6-4 win over France in the third place match on Sunday. His three goals helped England finish third and secure their best World Cup result since winning the title in 1966.
Saka joined Geoff Hurst, Gary Lineker and Harry Kane on the short list of England players with a World Cup hat-trick.
“It was fantastic. I really enjoyed it and it is an amazing achievement,” Saka said after the match.
“I have just been told that only four England players have scored World Cup hat-tricks. When you know who those players are, it is a special list to join. It makes me very proud.”
The 24 year old also became only the third England player to score at least three goals in two different World Cup tournaments. Only Lineker and Kane had done it before him.
England had hoped to play in the final, but Saka said the squad wanted to end the tournament in the best way possible after missing out.
“It was about finishing the tournament strongly because that is what we deserved as a group. We believed we should have been playing tomorrow instead of today. But we wanted to finish well and I am happy we did that.”
England coach Thomas Tuchel made several changes to his starting team for the bronze match. The decision worked well as England scored six goals against France. The team also finished the tournament with 20 goals, matching France as the highest scoring side.
Saka also shared Tuchel’s message after the match.
“He told us he was proud of us and that he is going to miss us. We will miss each other too. We spent six or seven weeks together and built a strong bond. We leave with pride after what we achieved today. Next time we want to win the tournament.”
