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Josh Ball

If England is the home of football — debatable - then it very definitely isn’t coming home for at least another four years.
The world champions, meanwhile, will defend their title on Sunday having come from behind yet again against opponents who seemed to delight in making it easy for them.
For Argentina and Lionel Messi, there is an inevitability about the South Americans right now and their 2-1 win in Atlanta sets up a clash with Spain that should prove a fitting climax to this year’s World Cup.
England and France, meanwhile, will play in the most pointless game in football; a third place encounter fans, players and coaches have almost zero interest in.
That, though, is for the weekend. For now, here’s what happened while you were sleeping.

A tactical disasterclass
It is almost as though the Three Lions anthem that invariably accompanies England football at major tournaments has become a self-fulfilling prophecy - that or Thomas Tuchel decided to take Trevor Brooking’s words as ones of advice and not warning.
The start of the song begins with the former West Ham and England legend bemoaning a trait that has seemingly haunted the country’s national team for decades.
“We’re not creative enough, we’re not positive enough”, he says as the opening bars of the track begin.
He might have been talking about the final 30 minutes of a game where England self-destructed and their German coach made so many bad decisions it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly which one was the worst.
Anthony Gordon’s 55th minute strike had put his side ahead, and with the game opening up, England seemed perfectly placed to expose the space that Argentina would invariably leave as they chased the game.
Tuchel, though, had other ideas, and promptly shut things down, which invited a side not exactly known for being unable to score, to attack at will. That it took 30 minutes before Enzo Fernandez finally broke through, had more to do with the post and Jordan Pickford than anything else.
Lautaro Martinez’s winner in stoppage time was the inevitable result of an England team that decided packing the penalty area was the correct approach.

No regrets
“Everyone seems to know the score, they’ve seen it all before/ They just know, they’re so sure/ That England’s gonna throw it away, gonna blow it away/ But I know they can play... - Three Lions
Tuchel at least had the good grace to be disappointed, and admitted his side had been “too passive” after going in front.
“We could not turn the ball possession around and then conceded so many crosses, chances and shots,” Tuchel said. “We were close but couldn’t keep the level up after we scored.”
Instead of keeping up tempo, England retreated, and it wasn’t until the seventh minute of time added on that Marcus Rashford entered the fray, alongside Ivan Toney in a last, desperate throw of the dice.
Before then, Nico O’Reilly had replaced Gordon, and defender Dan Burn arrived three minutes before Fernandez’s equaliser, which was at least the sixth shot from distance the Argentine midfielder had been allowed to take as the pressure was piled on.
“Of course, the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn’t go well, it is easy to say it was wrong,” Tuchel said.
“Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I did not have the feeling that offensive substitutions would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, more and more passive.
“I analysed the match and I did it a certain way so that’s my responsibility. In the moment, no regrets.
“We were very close today. It’s not the moment to analyse the full tournament, we just went out because we lost a crucial match.”

Marching on
Argentina have reached the World Cup final for the seventh time and this is the second occasion where they have made successive finals after also doing so in 1986 and 1990.
The 2026 final between Spain and Argentina will be the first World Cup final between the reigning European champions, and the reigning Copa America champions.
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said he was “lost for words” after watching his side come from behind, just as they had to do against Egypt.
“A great happiness for our country and our people. And another great happiness for this group who just do not know when they are beaten.
“I can tell them that we are going to try to win, we’re going to leave it all out there, but the truth is that to do this is very difficult. It’s very difficult for people to understand what our players have given. It is so impressive.
“We are unique. It’s not arrogance, it is all heart. Today so many people arrived here to support us and for that I am truly grateful. This shirt merits us giving absolutely everything possible until the very end. To not spare anything at all.”
A golden race
Lionel Messi did not score, but his two assists — it should be one, given Fernandez let fly from 25 yards out and Messi’s pass did little to create that - mean he has four for the tournament.
Both he and France’s Kylian Mbappe have eight goals, but Messi now moves ahead in the race for the golden boot as Mbappe only has three assists - with assists being the deciding factor if they both end on the same amount of goals.
Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are two back, and with the third-place game and final to come, anyone of those four could still win the title.


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Fifa World Cup 2026

Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez and Nico Gonzalez (right) celebrate after beating England in the World Cup semi-final. Photo: AP

England head coach Thomas Tuchel (left) passes on instructions to Jude Bellingham. Photo: AP

Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez (left) runs away to celebrate after scoring his side’s equaliser. Photo: AP

Argentina’s Lionel Messi waves to the crowd after leaving the pitch in Atlanta. Photo: AP

Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates after teammate Lautaro Martinez scores the winner. Photo: AP

Fifa World Cup: England are ‘hungry, ready to go’ in semi-final against Argentina

Thomas Tuchel addressing the media at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Tuesday. Photo: Getty Images 

Argentina have a plan to “neutralise” Jude Bellingham (left), here training on the eve of the match. Photo: AFP

Thomas Tuchel was tempted to man mark Lionel Messi, here training the day before the match. Photo: Getty Images

Sport

Football

Three Lions facing another four years of hurt after throwing away semi-final lead. Defending champions to take on Spain in historic final


Three Lions facing another four years of hurt after throwing away semi-final lead. Defending champions to take on Spain in historic final.


Lionel Messi

While you were sleeping: England blow it away, throw it away, Argentina into World Cup final

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Three Lions facing another four years of hurt after throwing away semi-final lead. Defending champions to take on Spain in historic final

A tactical disasterclass

Three Lions facing another four years of hurt after throwing away semi-final lead. Defending champions to take on Spain in historic final