ATLANTA — In a stunning, last-minute turnaround at the World Cup semifinals, Argentina pulled off a dramatic 2-1 victory over England on Wednesday, booking their ticket to the tournament final against Spain courtesy of two late goals set up by legend Lionel Messi. The result leaves England’s decades-long dream of reaching their first World Cup final since 1966 in tatters, and has put head coach Thomas Tuchel’s late-game tactical choices under intense scrutiny.
England had held a solid 1-0 lead since Anthony Gordon found the back of the net in the 55th minute, and looked poised to hold onto the advantage through the final whistle. As the clock wound down, Tuchel made a series of adjustments intended to fortify England’s goalmouth and defend their one-goal advantage: the manager shifted to a five-back formation, substituting defender Reece James for Dan Burn in the 82nd minute, and swapping midfielder Declan Rice for defender Nico O’Reilly to add more aerial presence to the box.
Tuchel later explained the decision, noting that England had been repeatedly vulnerable to Argentina’s crossing attacks early in the half. “They won every header. They kept crossing and crossing. So we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be stronger in the air,” he said, acknowledging full responsibility for the result. “Straight after our goal, with no substitutions, we just conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances. So we tried to help. But of course the responsibility is on the coach. And … if it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say that it was wrong.”
The tactical shift failed to contain Messi, who orchestrated Argentina’s late surge with masterful play. Just three minutes after Tuchel’s substitutions, the Argentine star played a sharp pass into the path of Enzo Fernandez just outside the 18-yard box. England’s defenders failed to close down the midfielder, who fired a curling precise right-footed strike that left diving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with no chance, equalizing the score in the 85th minute.
Argentina kept piling on the pressure as England’s deep-block defense continued to crack. After hitting the crossbar and wasting another close header opportunity, Messi delivered yet another perfect cross in the second minute of stoppage time. England defenders lost track of striker Lautaro Martinez, who powered a close-range header into the net to secure the winning goal.
Martinez attributed the comeback to England’s tactical choice to drop deep and defend their lead after taking the lead, which drained the English side of energy and gave Argentina room to work. “They got tired. They pressed for 60 minutes and then just ran out of steam. They got their goal and then sat back. That gave us more composure to move the ball around and stretch the pitch,” Martinez said.
England captain and striker Harry Kane reflected on the devastating loss, noting that the team’s decision to prioritize defending after taking the lead ultimately cost them a spot in the final. “We played a good game for the large majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is not enough,” Kane said. “Just gutted, gutted. Because we’ve worked so hard to get here.”
Per data from statistics firm Opta, this defeat marks only the second time this century that the team that scored first in a World Cup semifinal went on to miss out on the final. The first time also involved England, in their 2018 semifinal loss to Croatia. Argentina will now face Spain, led by young star Lamine Yamal, in the World Cup title match this Sunday.