Football is still not coming home.
After a triumphant run to the semifinals with Thomas Tuchel at the helm and led by 90% of their goals being scored by Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, England lost 2-1 to Argentina and missed out on a date to face Spain in the World Cup final in New Jersey.
After Anthony Gordon scored early on in the second half from a lovely cross in from Morgan Rogers, Tuchel made defensive changes, bringing in all of Dan Burn, Ezri Konsa, and Nico O’Reilly, waiting until the 95th
minute to introduce Ivan Toney and Marcus Rashford.
From that point on Argentina were the fierce aggressors and on the front foot — and cue the Lionel Messi show. The Inter Miami man provided an assist for an Enzo Fernández belter and a then for a Lautaro Martínez header to send Argentina to their second straight World Cup final, leaving England to rue the chance to maintain control of the match after they had gone 1-0 up and falling short once again in the latter stages of an international tournament.
After the match, Tuchel admitted that his side was far too passive after Gordon’s goal, conceding far too many chances to Argentina late on and ultimately inviting them right back into proceedings. “We’re disappointed. We were so close, but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances and could not turn the ball possession (only 12% after Gordon’s goal for England) around — and then, just conceded so many crosses, chances, and shots. We were close, but couldn’t keep the level up after we scored,” he told BBC Sport.
On the matter of the defensive changes he made in the second half holding on to the 1-0 lead, the former Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Mainz manager tried to rationalize the decisions he made in the match, trying to close gaps that Argentina were already attacking. “I did also offensive substitutions in the last games. We just tried to help the player. We conceded straight away. We decided to go a back five because the gaps were far too open. They won every header, the kept crossing and crossing. So, we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air because straight after our goal, there was no substitution. We just conceded way too many, way too many crosses and way too many chances, so we tried to help, but of course the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn’t go wrong, it’s easy to say that, if it doesn’t go well it’s easy to say it was wrong.”
He was also asked if there was a thought amongst the coaching staff on trying to go for a second goal, alluding to the attacking options that were on the bench at the time that Argentina had equalized, but Tuchel felt his England side was struggling to maintain possession in their own third of the pitch. “It doesn’t help if we don’t have the ball, if we couldn’t get out (of their own half). Of course we wanted to go for the second goal, but I had not the feeling that the offensive substitutions would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 but became passive. We couldn’t win any balls, couldn’t keep the ball. So, I think it was not a structural problem. We changed nothing after the goal, but the match changed completely. Again, it’s no problem. I can understand why these discussions are out there, and of course, millions of coaches after the game that know it better.”
He also added by saying there were “no regrets” for the effort England put forth and the decisions that were made on and off the pitch as the Three Lions came so close yet again but fell victim to an inspired Argentine finish led by Messi.
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