England’s destiny is tournament heartbreak. The only question concerns when it comes and how the fates will contrive to make it as painful as possible. This was an implausibly brutal new low.
Thomas Tuchel’s team had fought fire with fire on an occasion overloaded with shredded nerves. The first half was a physical fight; gripping all the same. And the possibilities seemed endless for England when Anthony Gordon put them in front shortly after half-time. A first appearance in the World Cup final since 1966 looked on.
“England's World Cup final dream shattered by two late Argentina goals in Atlanta semi-final.”
Argentina were not finished. There has been a feeling during this tournament that they are beatable, yet nobody has beaten them. There is a reason for that: their champion courage. They dug deep into it in the closing stages to complete one of their greatest fightbacks. That it came against England, the old enemy, made it even sweeter.
The regrets belonged to England. Tuchel sought to preserve what he had in the final quarter with a switch to a back five, Ezri Konsa coming on for Gordon and playing as the right-sided centre-half. The head coach had successfully seen out the 3-2 win against Mexico in the last 16 with five defenders on a night when his team were down to 10 men. There was no repeat here.
The frustration was that the tactical shift invited Argentina to press on to the front foot. Tuchel played with fire. Argentina dominated the closing stages. It was their attack versus England’s defence and the equaliser was well signposted. That it came as late as the 86th minute only added to England’s devastation. They were so close.
Enzo Fernández scored it with a fierce drive after Argentina had worked a short corner via Lionel Messi and England were floored before they could stagger on into extra time. They thought they had escaped when Alexis Mac Allister sent a low shot against the post – the second time he had hit the woodwork. But Messi recycled the move on the right, jinked and crossed deep. Lautaro Martínez was unmarked and when the Argentina substitute headed home, England were primed to do likewise.
Tuchel accepted responsibility after his substitutions backfired. For England, tournament heartbreak once again.
