‘I have to make a decision’

Thomas Tuchel has defended his substitutions and said he “tried to help” England’s players after the Three Lions spurned a second-half lead to lose 2-1 to Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals in Atlanta.

After Anthony Gordon’s close-range strike in the 55th minute, Tuchel’s substitutions ensured the Three Lions had six defenders on the pitch when Enzo Fernandez scored from distance with five minutes of regular time remaining and Lautaro Martinez headed the 92nd-minute winner.

“The responsibility is on the coach,” Tuchel told BBC Sport after his first competitive defeat as an international manager.

“If it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say that it was wrong. You can discuss this with a million coaches. I have to make a decision on the pitch. It’s how I analyse the match and I made the decision.”

World Cup 2026: How England were ‘open’ vs Argentina

Lionel Messi set up both goals as Argentina advanced to the final against Spain in New Jersey on Sunday (20:00 BST).

“We were so close but we got too passive after we scored, conceded a lot of chances and could not turn the ball possession around,” rued Tuchel.

“We couldn’t keep the level up after we scored. I also [made attacking] substitutions in the [previous] games. We just tried to help the players.

“We decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open. [Argentina] won every header; they kept crossing and crossing. We couldn’t get out.

“We couldn’t win any balls, couldn’t keep the ball. It was not a structural problem. We changed nothing after the goal, but the match changed completely.

“I can understand that these discussions are out there and, of course, [there are] millions of coaches after the game who know better.”

England vs Argentina: Tuchel praises ‘best match’

Tuchel took charge at the start of 2025 with the ambition of winning the World Cup. “At the moment, no regrets,” said the 2020/21 Champions League winner as Chelsea boss.

“The team gave everything and we were very, very close. We deserved to be up 1-0 [and] played one of our better matches – maybe the best match, under the circumstances.

“The game was tough and we couldn’t bring it over the line.”

The German said he had “no answer” when he was asked whether fans had seen England play as he wanted, adding that he did not “really know what that means”.

“We saw the mentality throughout the match and the group,” he suggested, calling group-stage opponents Croatia, Ghana and Panama “strong”.

“We played [while travelling] a lot of miles. We played at altitude, with 10 men [both against Mexico in the last 16], in the heat.

“We overcame every obstacle. It’s not the moment now to analyse the full tournament. We just went out because we lost a crucial match.”

World Cup 2026: England fixtures, schedule

England will face France in the third-placed play-off in Miami on Saturday. Here’s when the match starts in different territories.

In the UK, live TV coverage is on BBC One. Streaming on a vast range of devices is available through the BBC iPlayer app and BBC Sport website.