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England 1-2 Argentina: Late Collapse Sends Argentina Into World Cup Final

England are out, and they only have themselves to blame. For 85 minutes in Atlanta, Thomas Tuchel’s side had one foot in a first men’s World Cup final since 1966. Then the control vanished, the pressure mounted, and Argentina did what champions do. They punished hesitation and won 2-1.

Anthony Gordon gave England the lead 10 minutes into the second half, finishing off a hard, attritional contest with the kind of goal that should have been enough. At that point, England looked organised, compact and within touching distance of the final. What followed was the problem. They retreated, stopped keeping the ball and invited wave after wave of pressure.

Argentina comeback punishes England

Argentina kept pushing, mostly through wide areas, and England never dealt with it. Enzo Fernandez levelled with five minutes left, a superb strike that had been coming given the momentum of the game. Then, in stoppage time, Lautaro Martinez forced home the winner. Scrappy or not, it counted. England had gone from leading a World Cup semi-final to losing it in the space of a few minutes.

Tuchel was honest afterwards. He said: “We’re disappointed, we were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances.

“We could not turn the ball possession around and then conceded so many crosses, chances and shots. “We were close but couldn’t keep the level up after we scored.”

He also explained the tactical shift, saying: “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.

“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, the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn’t go well, it is easy to say it was wrong.”

Thomas Tuchel left with hard questions

The issue is simple. England scored and then surrendered initiative. Whether that came from the bench, the players, or both, the result was the same. Argentina sensed weakness and took over the match at exactly the right time.

England now move into the third-place play-off against France. Argentina go on to face Spain in the World Cup final. That match will carry a Liverpool angle too, with new signing Victor Munoz potentially facing Alexis Mac Allister, who helped drive Argentina into a second successive final.