England's World Cup Dream Shattered by Argentina in Dramatic Semi-Final

England was on the verge of reaching their first men's World Cup final since 1966. With the clock at 84 minutes in the Atlanta Stadium, they held a 1-0 lead over defending champions Argentina. But then everything went terribly wrong.

In the 85th minute, Enzo Fernandez scored a powerful equalizer. Just seven minutes later, in the 92nd minute of injury time, Lautaro Martinez scored a header to give Argentina a 2-1 victory. Interestingly, Lionel Messi assisted both goals.

Thus, England's World Cup dream turned to dust in an instant.

Anthony Gordon had worked hard to give England the lead in the 55th minute. But after that, they retreated and had to pay the price. England's coach Thomas Tuchel's decision to adopt a defensive strategy failed badly.

Instead, Argentina will now face Spain in the title clash at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday. 

After taking a 1-0 lead, England should have attacked for more goals. They did not. From the first goal until conceding the second, England had only 12 percent possession.

Coach Tuchel only sent in forwards Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney towards the end of injury time. Meanwhile, after England took the lead, he brought in defenders Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn, and Nico O'Reilly.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney told BBC Sports, 'We were completely devastated.'

He added, 'This started with the coach and the decisions he made. The team's playing style was very defensive. You cannot get away with such mistakes against a world champion team like Argentina. This was our biggest test, in which we have failed.'

So why did England retreat even when they had control over Argentina? And was Tuchel's second-half strategy to blame for England failing to reach the final?

• 'Coaching Disaster'

England had shown character in this World Cup. They had come back from behind against DR Congo in the Round of 32 and Norway in the quarter-finals.

However, the match against Norway or Mexico is different from the current match. Former England captain Alan Shearer said about this, 'They can stop teams like Norway or Mexico. But this is a different level. Argentina has the quality to control possession and punish you, which those teams did not have.'

He further added, 'Tuchel used his cards too early, and it backfired.'

After Gordon gave the lead, England seemed to have taken complete control over their old rivals Argentina. England's fans celebrated ecstatically, but then the team decided to retreat and defend.

Premier League winner Chris Sutton commented, 'That was a 'coaching disaster' from Thomas Tuchel.'

'You cannot expect to defend for 30 minutes against a quality team like Argentina,' he added.

'This is all the coach's responsibility. He made changes. His thinking was negative, so the question now arises, can you trust Thomas Tuchel to take this team forward?'

• Own Mistake

Historically, England has been defeated by Argentina.

Who can forget Diego Maradona's infamous 'Hand of God' goal in the 1986 World Cup? Or the pain of that defeat in the 1998 World Cup, which still runs deep?

However, for Wednesday's defeat, England can blame no one but themselves.

Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart told BBC Sports, 'Norway and Mexico were intimidated playing against England.'

'I didn't see any of that from Argentina. I saw belief in them, I saw them understand how to free up 'The Great Man' Lionel Messi in space. And they were running all over England,' Hart said.

He added, 'Gareth Southgate was criticized in big moments for England when they took the lead in big games and played defensively. I didn't see anything different in this big moment.'

• Questions over Tuchel's Defensive Strategy

So what were the changes that disappointed England's fans so much?

When England was leading 1-0, many expected Tuchel to push for another goal, but instead, the German coach made three defensive changes.

He brought in Konsa for Gordon in the 72nd minute, bringing the team to a five-defender formation. Ten minutes later, he brought in Burn and O'Reilly as additional defensive players.

Tuchel sent in Rashford and Toney, but it was too late.

Rooney said, 'I thought the change we made at 1-0 meant that if Argentina scored, we wouldn't even go to extra time.'

Former England defender Micah Richards said, 'When England scored the first goal, they should have gone for the second.'

'Yes, you have to respect their quality, but sitting too deep gave Argentina the chance to get into their rhythm,' Richards said.

• 'We tried to defend after taking a 1-0 lead'

Even Argentina's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez admitted that the game's momentum changed after the first goal. England retreated and tried to defend. Martinez said, 'Sometimes when you are winning, you have to push forward.'

'You cannot change the game plan. I think they did that and sent in more defenders.'

Tuchel has improved England's performance compared to their exit from the quarter-finals against France in the 2022 World Cup.

However, this England team has exceptional individual talents like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

Kane, England's captain, who will be nearing his 36th birthday by the next World Cup, hinted that his team could have done more.

He said, 'When we went 1-0 up, we tried to 'hold' the game, which is not enough at this level.'

'I am very sad because we have worked hard to get here and the players have given their last drop of sweat.'

'We put them under good pressure. We put a lot of pressure on them in the upper part of the field, which allowed us to win the ball and control the game better.'

'After the goal, whether it was because they put more men forward or because we couldn't stop them 'man-to-man', it was like a flood of goals.'

'The players were making blocks but, in the end, it wasn't enough.'

• Tuchel's Reaction

When asked if he made the wrong decision against Argentina, Tuchel said he had 'no regrets' and that his changes were a reaction to England becoming 'too defensive'.

Tuchel said, 'We decided to go with five defenders to reduce the goal difference.'

'Immediately after our goal, without any substitution, we gave away a lot of crosses and a lot of opportunities, so we tried to help. The responsibility lies with the coach. When it doesn't go well, it's easy to say it was wrong. We were very close today. This is not the moment to analyze the whole competition.' 

Although they reached the semi-finals, Tuchel's strategy and choices will be criticized in the coming days for failing to reach the final despite taking the lead. Richards said, 'Tonight, on the biggest stage, he made a mistake, and he has to admit it.'

BBC Sports