‘I’ve to decide’

Thomas Tuchel has defended his substitutions and mentioned he “tried to assist” England’s gamers after the Three Lions spurned a second-half result in lose 2-1 to Argentina within the World Cup semi-finals in Atlanta.

After Anthony Gordon’s close-range strike within the fifty fifth minute, Tuchel’s substitutions ensured the Three Lions had six defenders on the pitch when Enzo Fernandez scored from distance with 5 minutes of standard time remaining and Lautaro Martinez headed the 92nd-minute winner.

“The accountability is on the coach,” Tuchel advised BBC Sport after his first aggressive defeat as a global supervisor.

“If it doesn’t go properly, it’s straightforward to say that it was flawed. You possibly can focus on this with one million coaches. I’ve to decide on the pitch. It’s how I analyse the match and I made the choice.”

World Cup 2026: How England had been ‘open’ vs Argentina

Lionel Messi arrange each targets as Argentina superior to the ultimate towards Spain in New Jersey on Sunday (20:00 BST).

“We had been so shut however we obtained too passive after we scored, conceded numerous possibilities and couldn’t flip the ball possession round,” rued Tuchel.

“We couldn’t maintain the extent up after we scored. I additionally [made attacking] substitutions within the [previous] video games. We simply tried to assist the gamers.

“We determined to go to a again 5 as a result of the gaps had been far too open. [Argentina] gained each header; they saved crossing and crossing. We couldn’t get out.

“We couldn’t win any balls, couldn’t maintain the ball. It was not a structural drawback. We modified nothing after the objective, however the match modified utterly.

“I can perceive that these discussions are on the market and, after all, [there are] hundreds of thousands of coaches after the sport who know higher.”

England vs Argentina: Tuchel praises ‘finest match’

Tuchel took cost at the beginning of 2025 with the ambition of profitable the World Cup. “For the time being, no regrets,” mentioned the 2020/21 Champions League winner as Chelsea boss.

“The workforce gave every little thing and we had been very, very shut. We deserved to be up 1-0 [and] performed considered one of our higher matches – perhaps the very best match, beneath the circumstances.

“The sport was powerful and we couldn’t carry it over the road.”

The German mentioned he had “no reply” when he was requested whether or not followers had seen England play as he wished, including that he didn’t “actually know what which means”.

“We noticed the mentality all through the match and the group,” he urged, calling group-stage opponents Croatia, Ghana and Panama “robust”.

“We performed [while travelling] numerous miles. We performed at altitude, with 10 males [both against Mexico in the last 16], within the warmth.

“We overcame each impediment. It’s not the second now to analyse the total match. We simply went out as a result of we misplaced a vital match.”

World Cup 2026: England fixtures, schedule

England will face France within the third-placed play-off in Miami on Saturday. Right here’s when the match begins in numerous territories.

Within the UK, reside TV protection is on BBC One. Streaming on an unlimited vary of units is out there by way of the BBC iPlayer app and BBC Sport web site.