England were famously knocked out of the World Cup at the hands of Argentina, with Thomas Tuchel repeating Gareth Southgate’s mistakes by not following his own advice.
Wayne Rooney delivers a scathing verdict (Image: BBC iPlayer)
There was Croatia, then Italy, then Spain, and now Argentina.
England have been knocked out of the 2026 World Cup in an eerily similar way to their previous heartbreak. A ‘hold what you have’ mentality, substitutions that brought pressure, and changes in formation that still kept the opponents at bay.
Gareth Southgate was accused of just such management, and despite his success with the Three Lions, he was said to be at a loss. Tuchel was supposed to step up, but now he’s on the front line.
Wayne Rooney didn’t mince words and accused England of “collapsing”. “Panic, really panic,” the former captain lamented on BBC One. “You can’t score a goal and then surrender, give up the ball and give up the chance to get the second goal.
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“When the pressure is on Argentina to get back into the game, you want to be at the front.”
Rooney added: “If you’re on that pitch, you go 1-0 up and then look at the changes the manager is making… you’re losing faith. There’s only so many times you can get away with that.”
“You start thinking, ‘We’re going to wait and see, how are we going to get through this?’…To be honest, the decisions that Thomas Tuchel made cost us tonight.”
And he’s right. Yes, both goals came directly from poor defending as England went down to five points. But there was much more to this heartbreaking defeat than Enzo Fernandes’ long-range shot and Lautaro Martinez’s header in stoppage time. Defender Ezri Konsa came on for goal scorer Anthony Gordon in the 72nd minute, demonstrating how quickly Tuchel made changes.
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Thomas Tuchel has faced criticism for his decisions (Image: Ryan Pierse – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
His team was already under the pump and was about to drown. After Fernandes’ equalizer, England had fewer forwards on the pitch and had no reaction against a team that was full of them.
Remember what Tuchel said about Southgate’s tactics at Euro 2024? In an interview with ITV, the German players claimed, “They were more afraid of being eliminated from the tournament than they were excited and hungry to win the tournament.”
Sound familiar?
Chris Sutton went so far as to call it a “coaching disaster.” “The fact that when England get up front they basically hand the initiative to Argentina and they defend deep and put another defender on. It’s a very simple game of football and you have to get on the pitch,” Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“You can’t expect to defend for 30 minutes against Argentina’s quality. My concerns are all about the coach. He made changes, he was negative. So the question I ask is: how can we trust Thomas Tuchel to take this team forward?”
England crumbled and gave up the lead (Image: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Now the question is, where do England go from here? Tuchel was hired to win this World Cup and was originally signed on an 18-month contract in January 2025.
However, eyebrows were raised when his contract was extended earlier this year. Will the FA stick to their guns with a home tournament in which they are almost certain to qualify, or will they change course?
You’ll understand right away. But for now, the inquest on England’s new capitulation will be brutal.
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