Former England captain Wayne Rooney said the Three Lions “didn’t know what to do” after taking the lead against Argentina as the defending World Cup 2026 champions came from behind to book their place in the final.
Anthony Gordon’s second-half goal had England dreaming of a first men’s World Cup final in 60 years, but it was followed by a series of defensive substitutions from head coach Tuchel as England dropped deeper and deeper.
Argentina, meanwhile, did not panic. Lionel Messi’s side had come from a series of close games to reach the semi-final and produced another comeback with goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez.
Tuchel faced criticism immediately after full-time, in what was an England defeat that felt painfully familiar to the 2018 World Cup semi-final against Croatia and the Euro 2020 final against Italy – games England lost after taking the lead.
“Gareth Southgate took a lot of criticism for the big moments with England, when they had the lead in big games and shutting up shop,” former England goalkeeper Joe Hart said on the BBC. “I don’t see that anything has changed in that big moment out there.
“For as much praise as we have given Thomas Tuchel, for him to change it as soon as he did, that is him saying he didn’t believe in his team, that he didn’t think they could land any more punches on Argentina.”
What were Thomas Tuchel’s changes?
Tuchel’s first change, on 72 minutes, was to take off goalscorer and forward Anthony Gordon for defender Ezri Konsa. It brought a shift in formation from England as Tuchel shifted to a back-five, with Konsa slotting into centre-back.
By that point, England were already facing waves and waves of Argentina pressure. The holders increased the tempo with their own attacking changes, including the arrivals of Nico Gonzalez, Rodrigo De Paul and, finally, Lautaro Martinez.
A further double-change from Tuchel arrived on 82 minutes with Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly replacing midfielder Declan Rice and injured full-back Reece James. By that point, England had six defenders on the pitch.
Enzo Fernandez’s equaliser followed in the 85th minute and it was a sucker-punch to England’s belief. Striker Martinez then scored the winner in the second minute of nine added on, and Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney were sent on as a last resort.
England’s approach was not dissimilar to their defensive changes in the last-16 against Mexico when Tuchel’s side, after going down to 10 men, dropped deep and sat on their lead. This time, however, it wasn’t enough, with captain Harry Kane suggesting England needed to show more ambition.
“Gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone – the team, the staff, the fans,” he said. “We played a good game the large majority of it. When we went 1-0 up we seemed to try and hold on, which at this level is not enough.”
‘We didn’t know what to do’
Wayne Rooney said England “crumbled” after going ahead and blamed Tuchel for being too negative. “Once we got the first goal, we didn’t look to go for the second goal. For the players, and for me, Thomas Tuchel made the decision, and when you make the decision it is a gamble.
The gamble he made was to go with five at the back, which allowed them to dictate the game. The decisions that Tuchel has made cost us tonight.”
Micah Richards, meanwhile, said Tuchel had been brought in to help England take the next step, only for the same problems at the end of major tournaments to repeat themselves. “Thomas Tuchel was brought in to be the difference,” he said. “Tactically, we all thought he got it wrong today. When we went to five at the back. I thought we could have kept the momentum going and brought on wingers. Ultimately, we didn’t have the answers.”
What did Thomas Tuchel say?
Thomas Tuchel said he had “no regrets” despite England falling short, even though he accepted England were too “passive” after taking the lead. England had just 12 per cent of possession after taking the lead, and Tuchel took responsibility – but denied there was a “structural problem”.
”I did also offensive substitutions in the last games, we just tried to help the players. We conceded [a chance] straight away and we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open,” he told the BBC.
“They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air. Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances so we tried to help.
“Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I did not have the feeling that offensive substitutions would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, more and more passive. We couldn’t win any balls, we couldn’t keep the ball so I think it was not a structural problem, we changed nothing. But the match changed completely.
“It’s no problem, I can understand these discussions are out there and there are millions of coaches after the game who know it better.”
