Argentina reverted a one-goal deficit against England in less than 10 minutes and booked their place in the 2026 World Cup final.
There was no possible outcome other than a dramatic ending between the Albiceleste and the Three Lions. Considering what both sides had gone through heading into the semi final, with extra times and comebacks, it was the only way it could have gone. And for the neutral, they more than delivered.
The first half could have gone either way, really. Argentina had more possession, but hardly produced anything that threatened England. At the same time, England had nothing going forward and looked safe at the back.
Anthony Gordon, however, put them 1-0 up sort of against the run of play, to some degree. Argentina then piled on the pressure even more and eventually got back into the game thanks to a late Enzo Fernandez screamer. Lautaro Martinez then made 2-1 in stoppage time and won it for the current champions.
Why was England vs Argentina a tactically paradoxical game?
Argentina’s dominance
Argentina basically need to have the ball in order to play well and get their short-passing, close-proximity game going. Meanwhile, England have grown increasingly fond of lowering their lines and looking to accelerate play down the flanks whenever possible.
So it all played out as expected. Focusing just on the second half, the Albiceleste improved considerably getting back from the break. They imposed themselves more and fully occupied the attacking half, pushing the Three Lions back.
They took more shots in the opening eight minutes of the second half (3) than in the entire first half (2), for perspective.
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But while their dominance and intent shortly after half-time were responsible for making them better, it also gave England an escape route that they didn’t have in the first 45 minutes. Jordan Pickford and Harry Kane targeted plenty of long balls towards the wings, but rarely got anything going out of them.
And they also relied on a little bit of luck in the lead-up to Gordon’s goal, with Nicolas Tagliafico only half-clearing the ball, which fell to Declan Rice. He then set Morgan Rogers up to cross for the new Barcelona signing, who put it away.
But it was a fast break with plenty of space to run into, taking advantage of Argentina’s high line following a lengthy attacking sequence in England’s half that enabled them to counter quickly.
England’s defensive strategy
England then felt comfortable enough with a one-goal cushion to stay back, defend crosses and wait for counter-attacking opportunities. And it looked like a safe plan, considering they had the first big chance of the game.
Argentina were already dominant and kept going – mainly with crosses. This is ironic in itself, given the profile of both squads. But we mentioned their underrated aerial presence and set-piece prowess before, which is exactly what won them the game.
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Lionel Scaloni’s men attempted six crosses in 55 minutes before conceding. In the remaining 35, more than double that: 13 attempts. And the most interesting thing about this is that a whopping 17 of their 19 crosses came from the right-hand side.
While near-post deliveries killed Switzerland, far-post deliveries wreaked havoc inside England’s box. Nico Gonzalez forced a miracle from Pickford, Alexis Mac Allister got two clean headers – one of which hit the post – and Lautaro Martinez scored the winner in that manner.
Not only that, but Argentina got increasingly dangerous launching balls into the box as England got increasingly taller at the back.
Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly all joined John Stones, Marc Guehi and Reece James in defence and yet they somehow got worse at defending crosses.
The Konsa substitution, in fact, may have killed England. Not because of the Aston Villa defender, but because Tuchel chose Gordon as the player to make way.
It left the Three Lions in a deep 5-4-1 with Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers out wide. They had no escape route or speedy counter-attacking options.
Maybe his idea was to have both Bellingham and Rogers as tall targets for long balls or hubs to collect short passes with their back to goal and hold up play to waste time. But none of it materialised and they succumbed to Scaloni’s attacking substitutions and eventually gave the lead away entirely.
Tuchel had the perfect opportunity to capitalise on the in-game scenario that presented itself to England. Rogers and Gordon combined for the goal, but otherwise offered nothing for the team.
Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Noni Madueke were all sitting on the bench. And even Gordon was still on the pitch to exploit space in behind. What could have been an expansion of what got them the lead in the first place actually became their misery.
England were never able to leave their own third, let alone get to the attacking half. And Argentina did their thing over and over again until they scored twice.
The Albiceleste once again rely on screamers, crosses and set pieces. But there was absolutely nothing random to their win. Mainly because of Lionel Messi’s wand of a left foot. It now has seamlessly gone from scoring to setting up teammates for fun.
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