England manager Thomas Tuchel admitted his side became too passive after taking the lead as the Three Lions suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final at Atlanta Stadium.
England looked on course for the final after Anthony Gordon opened the scoring, but Argentina mounted another late comeback through goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez. Lionel Messi provided assists for both strikes as the defending champions booked a final showdown with Spain.
Speaking to BBC One after the match, Tuchel admitted England failed to maintain their intensity after going in front.
“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.”
The England boss also defended his substitutions after criticism over the tactical changes made during Argentina’s period of dominance.
“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.”
Tuchel insisted his side wanted to push for a second goal but admitted they simply could not regain possession long enough to build attacks.
“Yes but it doesn’t help if you can’t get the ball. We couldn’t get out.
“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.”
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager accepted full responsibility for the defeat but insisted he had no regrets over the decisions he made during the game.
“You can discuss this with a million coaches [but] I have to make a decision on the pitch.
“I analysed the match and I did it a certain way so that’s my responsibility.
“In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close. We deserved to be up 1-0.
“We played one of our better matches, maybe our best match in the circumstances. The team was top, we couldn’t get over the line but no regrets.”
Despite England’s painful exit, Tuchel praised his players for their mentality throughout the tournament, highlighting the challenges they overcame on their journey to the semi-finals.
“I think we saw the mentality throughout the match and the strong group. We played the matches how they were, we played against strong teams in the group, travelled a lot of miles, played at altitude, we played with 10 men, we played in the heat and we overcame every obstacle.
“We were very close today. It’s not the moment to analyse the full tournament, we just went our because we lost a crucial match.”
England will now turn their attention to the third-place play-off against France after falling one step short of reaching the World Cup final, while Argentina will meet Spain in Sunday’s showpiece.
