ATLANTA — In the end, it always end the same for England at a major tournament: regrets, what ifs and a devastating defeat.
What if England had just gone for it when they went 1-0 up against Argentina with 35 minutes to go and had a first World Cup final appearance in 60 years within reach?
What if Thomas Tuchel stuck with his plan instead of switching to a back five?
What if he bought on attacking players to try and pin back surging Argentina?
What if England hadn’t retreated to the edge of their own box and had just 12 percent possession after they went ahead?
What if England’s players had figured out Lionel Messi had drifted out to the right wing to cause maximum chaos and stopped him?
What if. What if. What if.
In the end it’s always the same for England.
Harry Kane: “It has been the missing piece for the last four or five tournaments”
Just like the 2018 World Cup semifinal defeat to Croatia and the European Championship final defeat to Italy in 2021, they will have massive regrets about how they folded when they were on top.
“It’s a similar story to what has happened in previous tournaments. We’ve struggled to keep the momentum of the game,” a dejected England captain Harry Kane told reporters afterwards, just moments after he had stood staring at England’s devastated fans in the stands.
“We did so well for 60 minutes. We scored, deserved to be ahead, then for one reason or another we struggled to keep the ball, struggled to put pressure on the ball and it allowed them to create more momentum, it created more attacks for them in our final third. It’s the normal mindset to try and hang on to a one-goal lead. But it was still 20 minutes plus stoppage time to go, so it was always going to be a long time. We are going to have to watch the game back and see exactly how we can improve in those situations. It has been the missing piece now for the last four or five tournaments.”
Why did this all feel so similar to those other recent defeats in the biggest moment when it mattered most? What is that missing piece Kane is referring to?
“Tough question for me to answer right now,” England’s Dan Burn told Pro Soccer Talk afterwards. “I think the difference is that Argentina have been there, done that and had the confidence that they were going to do it. I genuinely thought that we were going to do it the whole time. Even when I entered the pitch I was confident that we could do it. But I think when you get at this level of football there are very fine margins. I know it’s easy to say but it is fine margins. They took two chances and scored.”
England accepted their fate
All in all, England simply didn’t grasp the moment when it was there for them.
Belief grew among the fans throughout this tournament. Pretty much every fan I met in Boston, New York, Miami and Atlanta believed this was England’s time. It wasn’t. Again.
Before this tournament started many believed they would reach the semifinals and they did. They basically matched expectation levels, but along the way they did connect with their fans and show fight and spirit and dug deep to make it to the final four amid plenty of clunky displays. They were impressively scrappy and find a way.
But then when they had to show character and go the extra step to finish off the job they couldn’t do it. Again.
Messi’s quality and Argentina’s incredible will to win was the difference, but England simply accepted their fate.
England’s stars wilted in the key moment. Again.
“It’s gutting. When you come within 10-15 minutes of a World Cup final and don’t get it done, it hurts,” Burn continued. “I thought we nailed the gameplan until we scored. We did really well and knew what Argentina were going to do and I thought we dealt with it well. Then we got a bit passive after the goal, defended a bit too deep and the quality of chances Argentina were creating I felt like it was a matter of time. We conceded too many chances and too many crosses. It’s hard because in previous games we’ve defended those so well. To get that close and not to do it, it’s very sad.”
Nobody for England stood up and tried to do something different on the pitch to stop wave after wave of Argentina attack.
They all left it to somebody else. They couldn’t cope with the pressure when it mattered most.
Tuchel’s tactics didn’t help matters
Was this all on the players? Of course not.
Thomas Tuchel has been extremely defensive in his post-game comments and said he had no regrets. The players have said they wanted to go for it and push for a second goal when they were ahead.
But Tuchel switching to a back five early and bringing on the subs he did backfired. Massively.
Did those changes cost England the chance to be in the World Cup final?
“It’s not the time to talk about that but there’s always going to be these type of discussions when it doesn’t quite fall your way,” Kane said. “I think we wanted to get more pressure on the wide areas with the five at the back and the extra man for the crosses. But we still couldn’t quite get the pressure on there.
“Then whenever we won the ball or cleared the ball we didn’t keep it well enough. That is a big part of it as well, to try and shift the momentum and try to finish the game off with the second goal. It is hard to process it all right now. We have to improve and we win and lose together. That’s just the way it goes.”
Can England get over the line before Kane retires?
Kane in particular knows his window is closing when it comes to winning a major tournament with England.
The European Championships on home soil in 2028 looks like his best, and final, chance to finally win some silverware with England.
Kane turns 33 soon and he probably has one more World Cup in him. He pointed to Messi to prove that he can keep going for a while longer, but England’s legendary forward didn’t rule out this being his last World Cup.
“It’s too early to start talking about that. As a person I take it year-by-year and see how I feel,” Kane explained. “The England national team is my pride and joy. It’s what I love to do most, more than anything. Four years is a long way away and I’ll be 33 this summer. But as you see at the other end with Leo [Messi] there, he’s still performing at the highest level. I never want to put a limit on these things. I address every situation as it comes. For now it’s about processing another tough loss with this team.”
Kane has now suffered two European Championship final defeats and two World Cup semifinal defeats with England. All in agonizing fashion.
With Kane approaching the twilight of his career, England’s captain revealed how big of a blow this was and was asked what he said to the team after.
“There’s not much to say. Everyone has to process what has happened,” Kane said. “Everyone is gutted. I’m gutted for all the boys, all the staff, everyone behind the scenes because we know how much everyone puts in to be a successful national team. When you’re so close, 10-plus minutes away, and it slips out of your hands like that obviously the lads are devastated. Now we just have to take it on the chin. There’s nothing else we can do. We congratulate Argentina and go away and try to improve.”
In the end, it’s always the same for England.
They build up hope, come so close and then lose in some of the most devastatingly crushing ways possible and congratulate someone else.
Football, once again, is not coming home.
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