World Cup 2026: England’s loss to Argentina most painful since 1966 – Phil McNulty
When Gordon put England ahead in this latest tumultuous chapter of a bitter old rivalry, Tuchel decided on a rearguard action.
This worked in England’s knockout victories against Mexico and Norway, but not against Messi-inspired Argentina.
With 18 minutes left, Tuchel replaced striker Gordon with defender Ezri Konsa and moved to the back five. He later brought in Nico O’Reilly and Dan Burn to replace Declan Rice and Reece James.
It was almost immediately obvious that Tuchel said this in a bad way. It only invited Argentinian pressure and late goals. Almost all of this was on Tuchel.
If there was one statistic that harshly condemned his approach, it was that England had just 12% possession between taking the lead and Martinez’s winning goal nearly 40 minutes later.
That’s how Tuchel met England’s need for a sudden attack in the closing moments when he headed home Ivan Toney for the first time of the tournament in the 96th minute.
Toney’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hat has also brought some of Tuchel’s choices under scrutiny. Was Toney selected because of a penalty kick that never came?
And the debate around Tuchel’s defensive selections, particularly at right-back, will continue to heat up.
Tuchel gambled on the fitness of injury-prone Reece James, but with the Chelsea defender sidelined with a hamstring problem, right-back suddenly became a problem position.
Before James made it to the semi-finals, the position came down to chairs between Jarell Quansah, who was injured against Panama and then sent off with a red card against Mexico, and Djed Spence and Ezri Konsa.
While Trent Alexander-Arnold watched all this from a distance, his natural talents were ignored by Tuchel due to his defensive weakness.
And as the dust settles, Tuchel’s decision to ignore the creativity of Cole Palmer and Phil Foden – which is easy to say in hindsight considering they both had poor seasons at Chelsea and Manchester City – and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White will be reconsidered.
Jordan Henderson, whose tournament ended in strange circumstances when he broke his arm during the celebrations after the win against Mexico, was considered to have influence on the team but was never going to become a serious player on the field.
If Tuchel values his professionalism and personality so much in this area, why not bring Henderson into his backroom team and make room for a younger, more creative player?
This was a desperate day for England, Tuchel and his tactical approach.
A day that could easily be sung as the song says: “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”
