England’s spirited win on Saturday over France evoked more questions than answers for fans of the Three Lions.
England outscored France in a high-octane affair that saw 10 goals scored between the two sides, much to the delight of fans in attendance at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Frenchman Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in the contest to zoom past Lionel Messi on the top scorers list of this year’s tournament thus far. Mbappe leads his Argentinian rival 10-8 heading into Sunday’s World Cup Final.
But the star of Saturday’s show was England’s Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal winger scored a hat-trick to account for half of his team’s goals in the victory. The performance pushed several fans to wonder why England manager Thomas Tuchel kept Saka on the bench for the team’s semifinal match against Argentina.
Why didn’t Saka play against Argentina?
— JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) July 18, 2026
Very easy to see why Tuchel didn't bring in Saka against Argentina.
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) July 18, 2026
So if Saka is fit enough to play 97 minutes, score a hattrick and play like this… why didn’t he play at all vs Argentina?
— Joe Thomlinson (@joethomlinson) July 18, 2026
Wow. This Bukayo Saka fella is good. Such a shame he mysteriously disappeared for the semi-final and couldn’t play.
— Megan Cantle (@megancantle99) July 18, 2026
Many fans obviously felt that England could have used Saka’s offensive creativity against Argentina. However, Tuchel opted to play extremely defensive once his side went ahead 1-0. The plan backfired as Argentina scratched out two late goals to stun England.
Saka did get some help from Jude Bellingham to secure his hat-trick in the third-place match. Bellingham gave the ball to Saka instead of keeping it himself for a late penalty kick, which Saka scored to push England ahead 5-3 in the 87th minute.
Jude Bellingham hands the ball to Bukayo Saka for the pen and he scores his hat trick 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pz61YMf93N
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 18, 2026
Saka played just 359 total minutes throughout the World Cup, but made a significant impact whenever he got the chance. He scored 3 goals and generated 3 assists during his time on the pitch.
