England was on the verge of reaching its first men's World Cup final since 1966. Leading 1-0 against the reigning world champions Argentina, Tuchel's team looked confident until the 84th minute when everything went wrong.

Key moment of the match

Enzo Fernandez equalized in the 85th minute with a powerful shot, and Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute, both times assisted by Lionel Messi. Thus, England's dreams of the World Cup were shattered.

The English squandered the advantage they earned with Anthony Gordon's goal in the 55th minute. After that, the team sat back defensively and paid a high price for it. Tuchel's decision to switch to defensive positions turned into a disaster.

Tactical mistakes by Tuchel

England controlled the game, but after scoring, the team lost the initiative, having only 12% possession before the opponent's second goal. Tuchel brought on forwards Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney only in stoppage time, while defenders Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn, and Nico O'Reilly came on after England took the lead.

'We collapsed,' said former England captain Wayne Rooney. He added that the coach's decisions were too passive.

Criticism from experts

Criticism of Tuchel also came from other experts. 'It was a disaster in terms of coaching decisions,' said Chris Sutton, Premier League champion. He noted that you can't expect a team to defend against such a quality side as Argentina.

'When England scored, they should have gone for a second goal,' added former England defender Micah Richards. 'Respecting the opponent's quality, they allowed Argentina to get into their game.'

Lessons from defeat

Despite Tuchel improving the team's results compared to the 2022 World Cup, when England was eliminated in the quarter-finals, his tactics in the semi-final raised many questions. Team captain Harry Kane noted that after scoring, the team tried to hold the score, which is not enough at this level.

'We put pressure on them, but after the goal, we couldn't cope with their onslaught,' Kane said.

Tuchel's defense

In a post-match interview, Tuchel defended his decisions, claiming that the team showed character and was close to victory. 'That's the nature of the game — when you lose, you face criticism,' he said.

However, despite reaching the semi-finals, Tuchel's tactics will be discussed for a long time after this defeat. 'At the biggest stage, he made a mistake, and he has to acknowledge it,' Richards concluded.

England faced disappointment at the World Cup once again, and now the team must learn lessons from this experience ahead of future tournaments.