* He swapped Reece James for Dan Burn, and Declan Rice for defender Nico O’Reilly in the 82nd minute to build a wall in front of the goal — but Argentina and Messi simply kicked it down
* They won every header. They kept crossing and crossing. So we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be stronger in the air
* Straight after our goal, with no substitutions, we just conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances. So we tried to help
Maravi Express
England desperately wanted to protect their lead as time was winding down in last night’s FIFA World Cup™ semifinals, and coach Thomas Tuchel swapped Reece James for Dan Burn, and Declan Rice for defender Nico O’Reilly in the 82nd minute.
He tried to build a wall in front of the goal — but Argentina and Lionel Messi simply kicked it down.
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England led 1-0 late in the second half before Messi assisted goals by Enzo Fernandez in the 85th minute and Lautaro Martinez in the second minute of injury time to give Argentina a wild 2-1-victory.
Tuchel’s tactical choices in one of the biggest matchups in one of football’s biggest rivalries will likely be scrutinised and criticised for years — as The Three Lions missed a chance to return to the World Cup final for the first time since 1966.
“They won every header — they kept crossing and crossing,” said Tuchel after the match. “So we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be stronger in the air.
“Straight after our goal, with no substitutions, we just conceded 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 well, it’s easy to say that it was wrong.”
Tuchel’s chess moves just could not contain Messi, the maestro of Argentina’s attacks and the loss marked only the second time this century that the team that scored first in a World Cup semifinal match did not reach the final, according to Opta.
The other team was also England in 2018 against Croatia.
England took the lead with Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute but Argentina quickly switched the momentum with furious pressure on England’s defence.
To protect the lead, England drew closer and closer to its own goal, hoping to build the sort of impenetrable wall it had when it held on to beat Mexico in the Round of 16 despite being down to 10 players.
Thus Tuchel swapped defender Reece James for Dan Burn, and midfielder Declan Rice for defender Nico O’Reilly in the 82nd minute.
Tuchel bringing in Nico O’Reilly
Fernandez struck barely three minutes after the England substitutions, scoring a precision right-footed strike from just outside the penalty area.
Messi set up the play with a pass to his teammate’s feet, and England defenders failed to close him down before he ripped the shot that curled past diving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Argentina kept coming, and England’s wall kept crumbling. The defending champions hit the crossbar and missed another header across the mouth of the goal before Martinez finally sealed it with a powerful close-range header when England defenders lost him on a cross from Messi.
“They got tired,” Martinez said. “They pressed for 60 minutes and then just ran out of steam. They got their goal and then sat back. That gave us more composure to move the ball around and stretch the pitch.”
England striker Harry Kane said: “We played a good game for the large majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is not enough.
“Just gutted, gutted. Because we’ve worked so hard to get here.”
England have been eliminated every time they have faced a top 10 ranked nation in the knockout stages of the World Cup since 1998
The great rivalry between these nations has produced several memorable contests on the World Cup stage through the years, and this will be remembered as the stuff of legends.
It was maybe not quite up there with Diego Maradona’s legendary display in putting England to the sword in 1986, but the goals this time brought Argentina back from the dead and kept alive their hopes of winning back-to-back World Cups.
Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal followed up with a brilliant solo run minutes later to make it 2-0
No team has retained the trophy since Brazil in 1962, and now, Messi will become just the second player after Brazilian great Cafu to appear in three World Cup finals.
Italy are the only other side to defend a World Cup crown.
The 2026 final will take place at New York New Jersey Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, as the first 48-team World Cup boils down to a confrontation between the reigning champions of Europe and South America.
Messi had waited until the age of 39 to get the chance to play against England, and he will now face Spain for the first time in a competitive game.
His career appeared to be complete when he dragged Argentina to glory in 2022 in Qatar, but he is clearly not done yet.
England, though, will have huge regrets as they head to Miami to play France in Saturday’s third-place playoff, a game neither team will want to contest.
The prospect of a first World Cup final appearance since their sole triumph 60 years ago was a momentous one, and they were so close, but will live to regret sitting back after Gordon’s opener.
The key men for Thomas Tuchel’s side during this campaign have been Jude Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, yet they failed to deliver on this occasion, and England’s players slumped to the turf at full-time.
Given the deep-rooted rivalry between these nations, this was always likely to be a game with an edge, and there was a palpable sense of tension at Atlanta Stadium.
Argentina’s players were clearly fired up, partly by a determination to hold onto their World Cup crown but also by a sense of what this fixture means.
That translated into a niggly contest, pockmarked by fouls in the first half, including Elliot Anderson being booked for scything down Messi.
There were no real chances to speak of in the first half, but England struck in the 55th minute.
Kane was involved in the buildup as the ball eventually came to Morgan Rogers on the right, and he whipped in a low cross towards the back post where Gordon stole in front of Nahuel Molina to score.
But this was the stadium where Argentina produced a stunning comeback from 2-0 down to beat Egypt in the last 16, and they were not done.
They threw everything at their opponents, as Jordan Pickford made a great save from a Nico Gonzalez header, and Alexis Mac Allister was then denied by the post in the 76th minute.
Fernandez was denied from range by Pickford, but moments later, he equalised, controlling a Messi pass on the edge of the area and letting fly past the goalkeeper.
Argentina smelled blood, and Mac Allister again hit the post before England failed to clear, and Martinez headed in the winner from an exquisite Messi cross to spark chaotic scenes of celebration and leave England completely deflated.—Reporting by AFP; editing by Maravi Express
Knockout stages results
Round of 32
* South Africa 0-1 Canada
* Jordan 1-3 Argentina
* Brazil 2-1 Japan
* Germany 1(3)-1(4) Paraguay
* Netherlands 1(2)-1(3) Morocco
* Côte d’Ivoire 1-2 Norway
* France 3-0 Sweden
* Mexico 2-0 Ecuador
* England 1-2 DR Congo
* Belgium 3-2 Senegal
* USA 2-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina
* Spain 3-0 Austria
* Portugal 2-1 Croatia
* Switzerland 2-0 Algeria
* Australia 1(2)-1(4) Egypt
* Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde
* Colombia 1-0 Ghana
Round of 16
* Canada 0-3 Morocco
* Paraguay 0-1 France
* Brazil 1-2 Norway
* Mexico 2-3 England
* Portugal 0-1 Spain
* USA 1-4 Belgium
* Argentina 3-2 Egypt
* Switzerland 0(4)-0(3) Colombia
Quarterfinals
* Morocco 0-2 France
* Belgium 1-2 Spain
* Norway 1-2 England
* Argentina 3-1 Switzerland
Semifinals
* France 0-2 Spain
* England 1-0 Argentina
3rd Place Play-off
Saturday
* France v England (23h00)
Final
Sunday
* Spain v Argentina (21h00)
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