England were moments away from a first men's World Cup final since 1966. Leading 1-0 against reigning champions Argentina with the clock showing 84 minutes inside Atlanta Stadium, it all fell apart in devastating fashion.
Enzo Fernandez hammered home an equaliser in the 85th minute before Lautaro Martinez nodded in a 92nd-minute winner — both goals created by Lionel Messi. England's tournament was over in the cruellest manner imaginable, and the finger of blame pointed squarely at manager Thomas Tuchel's decision to sit deep and protect a slender advantage.
Anthony Gordon had given England the lead 10 minutes into the second half, sparking wild celebrations among the Three Lions faithful. But rather than pushing for a killer second goal, Tuchel opted for defensive reinforcements. The statistics tell a damning story: England managed just 12% of possession between taking the lead and conceding the second goal.
Argentina now advance to Sunday's final against Spain at New York New Jersey Stadium, while England are left to wonder what might have been.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney did not hold back in his assessment. "We have crumbled," Rooney told BBC Sport. "It started from the manager and the decisions he made. It was too passive. Against this team, the world champions, you will not get away with it. This has been the biggest test and we have failed it."
The substitutions that drew such ire saw Ezri Konsa replace Gordon in the 72nd minute as England shifted to a back five. Dan Burn and Nico O'Reilly followed as further defensive reinforcements 10 minutes later. Forwards Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney were only introduced deep into stoppage time — far too late to change the outcome.
Chris Sutton, a Premier League winner with Blackburn in 1994-95, called it a "coaching catastrophe" on BBC Radio 5 Live. "The fact that England got themselves in front and then basically handed Argentina the initiative... that was a coaching catastrophe from Thomas Tuchel," Sutton said. "You can't expect to defend for 30 minutes against the quality Argentina had. It's all on the coach where I am concerned. He made the changes. He was negative, so the question which I'm going to ask is 'how can you trust Thomas Tuchel to take this team forward?'"
Former England captain Alan Shearer echoed the sentiment on BBC Sport. "The difference is hanging on against Norway or Mexico, they have not got the quality this Argentina team have got in terms of the ability on the ball and the ability they have to punish you," Shearer said. "Tuchel played his cards very, very early and it has backfired."
England had shown resilience earlier in the tournament, coming from behind to beat both DR Congo in the last 32 and Norway in the quarter-finals. But Argentina proved an entirely different proposition.
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart offered a pointed observation on BBC Sport: "Norway and Mexico panicked against England. I didn't see one bit of panic from that Argentina side. I saw belief, I saw the realising they could free up the great man Lionel Messi in the pocket, and they were running all over England." Hart added a comparison to the previous regime: "Gareth Southgate took a lot of criticism for the big moments with England, when they had the lead in big games and shut up shop. I don't see that anything has changed in that big moment out there."
Even Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez acknowledged the shift in momentum. "Sometimes when you are winning, you have to go forward," Martinez said. "You can't change the gameplan. I think they did it and they sent on extra defenders."
England captain Harry Kane, who will be approaching his 36th birthday by the next World Cup, admitted his side's approach was flawed. "When we went 1-0 up we seemed to try and hold on, which at this level is not enough," Kane said. "After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave. The lads were putting blocks in but, in the end, it just wasn't enough."
Rooney added that the substitutions left England vulnerable: "I felt the changes we made at 1-0, that if Argentina scored we wouldn't make extra time."
Former England defender Micah Richards told BBC Sport: "When England scored that first goal they should have gone for the second. Yes, you respect their quality, but dropping deep allowed Argentina to get into their flow."
Former goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who won 41 caps for England between 2003 and 2007, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Tuchel went too deep too soon. "He has got a lot of decisions right, but I think trying to defend a lead against this team was a wrong choice," Robinson said.
In his post-match press conference, Tuchel defended his approach. "No, I believe it's just the nature of the game. As soon as you lose you get criticised, it's just what it is," Tuchel said. "In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close. We played one of our better matches, maybe our best match in the circumstances. The team was top, we couldn't get over the line."
Tuchel pointed to the challenges his squad had overcome throughout the tournament — playing at altitude, in the heat, with 10 men, and travelling significant distances. "We overcame every obstacle. We were very close today. It's not the moment to analyse the full tournament," he added.
While Tuchel has improved on England's 2022 World Cup showing, where they exited at the quarter-final stage against France, this defeat against Argentina — a team with such painful history against England dating back to Maradona's infamous 'Hand of God' in 1986 and the heartbreak of 1998 — will be scrutinised for some time to come. With a squad featuring exceptional individual talent like Kane and Jude Bellingham, questions over whether Tuchel's conservative instincts are holding England back will not disappear quickly.