It has happened again. England went ahead in a knockout game at a major tournament, retreated into their shell, and paid the price. Argentina came from behind to win the World Cup semifinal against England 2-1. But in a game of such high stature, many believe that the game was handed to Argentina and Lionel Messi by Thomas Tuchel.

“England scored the goal and then sat back. Cowardly approach. They haven’t left their own box and have allowed Argentina to come forward more. The logical outcome happens,” posted World Cup winner Iker Casillas. And there aren’t many who are going to say anything against it.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, speaking on the FOX postgame show, offered a direct tactical breakdown: “England stopped playing when they scored the goal. I don’t know why… Tuchel made some changes, he went too defensive. Scaloni went more offensive. They didn’t panic… They kept pushing by putting more offensive players in. The best team won.”

At Atlanta Stadium on Tuesday, they led Argentina 1-0 through Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute header after a Morgan Rogers cross. And then Thomas Tuchel began making substitutions that drained the life out of the game. In the final 20 minutes, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn, and Nico O’Reilly came on, all three defenders. Argentina equalised through Enzo Fernandez from outside the box in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martinez won it in stoppage time.

Wayne Rooney went further on BBC, explaining exactly what the substitutions communicated to England’s own players: “If you’re an attacking player on that pitch and you go 1-0 up and you see the changes which Tuchel made, you lose belief. You’re seeing defenders come on. That tells you — protect what we have. That’s not how you win at this level.”

While Tuchel added defenders, Lionel Scaloni responded by sending on Rodrigo De Paul, Nico González, and Lautaro Martinez. Argentina kept the ball, kept the pressure on, and eventually got the goals that the pattern of the game demanded. Per Football365, England’s defensive approach “had served him so well” across the tournament but went “too far, too early” in the biggest game.

Mark Goldbridge, host of The United Stand, posted: “Stupid tactics. And now we have a pitch full of defenders.” Jamie O’Hara, on talkSPORT, was blunter: “Sack him! Sack him now!” What makes the criticism sting hardest is the familiarity of it. England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy after sitting back with a lead. They lost the Euro 2024 final to Spain under Gareth Southgate, again criticised for defensive substitutions. Tuchel was brought in specifically to break that pattern. Per Yahoo Sports, England hadn’t been in a World Cup final since 1966, 60 years ago, and were a substitution away from finally ending that wait.

Tuchel did not dodge the questions after the match. He acknowledged the game had turned on his substitutions but defended the logic behind them, that England’s lead needed protecting and Gordon had picked up a knock. Per BBC, he said: “We had control. We made changes to try and keep it. It did not work, and I take responsibility for that.”

Argentina, meanwhile, have reached their third World Cup final in four tournaments: 2014, 2022, and now 2026. Their date with Spain in New Jersey awaits.