Thomas Tuchel has said England should be proud of their World Cup run and believes finishing third can help drive them to future tournament glory.
England secured their best men's World Cup finish since 1966 after surviving a France second-half comeback to win a 10-goal thriller 6-4 in Miami on Saturday.
Goals from Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and a Bukayo Saka brace put them 4-0 up at halftime before France stirred into life as Kylian Mbappé struck twice either side of Bradley Barcola's 54th-minute effort to move Les Blues back to 4-3.
Michael Olise missed a glorious chance to equalise before Saka's 87th-minute penalty sealed his hat trick.
Ousmane Dembélé brought France within one goal again deep in stoppage-time but there was still time for Jude Bellingham to score a sensational solo goal to ensure England won the bronze medal.
Tuchel faced a fierce backlash for his in-game substitutions after England surrendered a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 against Argentina in Wednesday's semifinal and he said: "The press conference yesterday felt as if we went out in group stage without a win to be very honest.
"And 24 hours later we have the biggest success in 60 years. So, take the low not too low and the high not too high is what we try for us and the team. The low and the drama about what happened against Argentina was too low but listen, that is part of it.
"The best thing you can do is react on the pitch and get the next win. Everything else is just talking and talking doesn't get you points. You have to endure it, be strong and keep believing. I am glad that we showed the reaction. We wanted it and it was very impressive.
"It is the first medal in 60 years, the best World Cup on foreign soil so I hope the players can be proud on that in some time. We are fiercely competitive so we almost don't allow ourselves to be proud with third place. Eighteen months ago we set the highest goal, the highest dream to chase.
"We were very, very ambitious with our dream to make it to the final and win the World Cup so it is very, very painful is you miss out. The pain will stay for away but the scar will stay. This is how it is in high level sport."
Asked whether finishing third could help England kick on in future with Tuchel set to stay in charge of England until 2028, he replied: "Yes, this game will help us for sure even if a part will never allow you to fully celebrate a bronze medal.
"But I think this is a very important one. Jordan Henderson gave a very impressive speech today in the hotel to put this in the right frame and put everyone in the right mindset. He helped unbelievably today.
"That was very emotional and very, very impressive to put this game into perspective.
"I said yesterday here we want to close this gap. We feel that there's still a gap open. There's still a gap to close to the top three teams who are ahead of us in the world rankings, and that starts with today.
"It was a big shout because a lot, a lot of world-class players was in the attack on the other side.
"They come from a less demanding schedule physically, have one more day, so it was a big shout.
"But, again, we could rely on what we built. This team built something very, very special in the last seven weeks, and we will never negotiate on that.
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"I still stand by my words that we need to play better football under pressure. We need to manage games better under pressure.
"We need to take better decisions under pressure. We need to defend more economically, more disciplined.
"If you remember first half against Croatia [in the group opener], for example, when we scored 2-1 we went into a deep, deep, deep, deep block, almost a back six, a back seven. Conceded with the last shot.
"These are exactly the moments where we need to be better and understand how to be better, so that's our job for the next steps.
"Now it's important that the players take their holiday. The season will start very soon, and Nations League will come and will be the next important competition for us."
