All three goals came in a frenetic first half an hour at Allianz Riviera as Kosovare Asllani and Sofia Jakobsson gave Sweden a 2-0 lead before Fran Kirby halved the deficit shortly after.

England thought they had equalised through Ellen White but the goal was ruled out for handball following the intervention of the video assistant referee (VAR).

Sweden held firm amid a concerted period of pressure from England in the second half to finish third at the World Cup for the third time.

Defeat for England consigned them to fourth place, one spot lower than their result at the 2015 World Cup in Canada.

Sweden started the brighter of the two sides and went ahead when Asllani capitalised on a mistake from Alex Greenwood to fire home the opening goal via the post.

Jakobsson capitalised on more slack defending from England when she walked into the box before curling beyond Carly Telford.

Kirby gave England hope when she pulled a goal back just after the half hour before VAR intervened to deny England a leveller, echoing scenes from their semi-final defeat to the United States on Tuesday (July 2).

White ran through on goal and finished well but she was judged to have handled in the build-up and the goal did not stand.

Chances were few and far between in the second half, although England were unfortunate not to restore parity in added time when Lucy Bronze's goal-bound volley was cleared off the line by Nilla Fischer.

The tournament concludes with the final between the US and the Netherlands in Lyon tomorrow.