England's painful World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina extends

England's years of hurt will now stretch beyond 60, but the late collapse to a World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina may be the most painful wound of all. The clock inside the magnificent Atlanta Stadium showed England were five minutes of normal time away from ending the wait for a men's World Cup final that stretches back to 1966, when they lifted the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley.

England's players and head coach Thomas Tuchel had immortality in their hands as they led through Anthony Gordon's 55th-minute goal. Their grasp, however, was loosened by catastrophic decision making from Tuchel that instigated wave after wave of Argentina attacks orchestrated by Lionel Messi. One goal seemed inevitable—and it came from Enzo Fernandez in the 85th minute. Then, with England on the ropes, they were floored by Lautaro Martinez's injury-time header. England could not come back, so a stunned football nation wakes up to another desperate near-miss from this nearly team.

Tuchel fails in England mission

Tuchel's unique selling point when he succeeded Sir Gareth Southgate was the idea he would win matches his predecessor could not. That he would not be gripped by the caution Southgate was criticised for when losing the last two Euros finals to Italy and Spain, as well as the 2018 World Cup semi-final to Croatia. The thinking was that Tuchel would drive England over the line, whereas Southgate supposedly retreated from it.

And yet, when it counted and the pressure was at its height, Tuchel produced the sort of tactical retreat—and loss—that would have seen Southgate pilloried. Instead, it will now be Tuchel getting the criticism for that decision—and rightly so.

The Football Association went for a quick-fix appointment to succeed Southgate after Euro 2024, bringing in a proven winner whose sole mission was to win the 2026 World Cup, or put "a second star on the shirt" as Tuchel called it. A semi-final can only rank as par, and, in the harshest light, a failure, because he was brought in to make sure England did not have any more hard-luck stories or disappointments. And, as with Southgate, Tuchel has still not guided England to victory against a side there were not high expectations they would beat.

Tactical errors prove costly

There will be recriminations about how Tuchel engineered England's defeat mainly by his own hand, effectively repeating everything that brought Southgate so much criticism. Once Gordon put England ahead in this latest stormy episode of an old and bitter rivalry, Tuchel decided on a rearguard action. That had worked for England in their knockout wins over Mexico and Norway—but it would not against a Messi-inspired Argentina.

Tuchel replaced goalscorer Gordon with defender Ezri Konsa with 18 minutes left and switched to a back five. He then brought Nico O'Reilly and Dan Burn on for Declan Rice and Reece James. It was clear almost instantly that Tuchel had called it badly. It did nothing but invite Argentine pressure and those late goals. This one was almost all on Tuchel.

If there was one statistic that brutally condemned his approach, it was that England only had 12% possession between taking the lead and Martinez's winning goal nearly 40 minutes later. Such was England's sudden attacking need in the closing moments that Tuchel threw on Ivan Toney after 96 minutes—his first appearance of the tournament.

Selection decisions under scrutiny

Toney's "blink and you'll miss it" cap also brought some of Tuchel's selections under scrutiny. Was Toney simply picked for a penalty shootout that never came? And the debate around Tuchel's defensive picks, especially at right-back, will continue to rage. Tuchel gambled on the injury-prone Reece James staying fit—but when the Chelsea defender was sidelined with a hamstring issue, right-back suddenly became a problem position.