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England’s destiny is tournament heartbreak. The only question concerns when it comes and how the fates will contrive to make it as painful as possible. This was an implausibly brutal new low.
Thomas Tuchel’s team had fought fire with fire on an occasion that was overloaded with shredded nerves. The first half was a physical fight; it was gripping all the same. And the possibilities seemed endless for England when Anthony Gordon put them in front shortly after half-time. A first appearance in the World Cup final since 1966 and only a second ever looked on.
Argentina were not finished. There has been a feeling during this tournament that they are beatable and yet nobody has beaten them. There is a reason for that. Their champion courage. They dug deep into it in the closing stages to complete one of their greatest ever fightbacks. That is came against England, their old enemy, made it impossibly sweet.
There were 86 minutes on the clock when they scored the equaliser they had threatened. Their pressure came from all angles. Eventually, it told. It was Enzo Fernández with a blistering drive from outside the area after Argentina had worked a short corner via Lionel Messi. And into stoppage-time; the knife to England’s hearts.
It was Messi – who else? – who crossed from the right after England had survived an Alexis Mac Allister header that came back off the post. Lautaro Martíinez, on as a substitute, stole into space at the far post and when he rose, it was the prompt for Argentinian ecstasy. Tuchel paid for switching to a back five in the final quarter of the game and seeking to preserve what his team had. In the end, they had nothing but bitter regrets.
The history framed everything. Nobody could ignore it and not only because of how loudly the Argentina supporters chanted the line about Las Malvinas in their World Cup song. The echoes could be felt from the pitches of Mexico 86, France 98, and Japan and South Korea 2002 – the most recent tournament clashes between the nations. Never before had they met so close to the final. Another show-stopper was guaranteed.
It was all about which team could handle the emotion, which both of them had appeared to run on during their rollercoaster rides to this point. For England, it was simply their joint-biggest game since the 1966 World Cup, sitting alongside the Italia 90 semi-final against West Germany, which they lost on penalties. The Euro 2020 final against Italy at Wembley merited a mention; another shootout defeat.
The nervous tension pulsed from the first whistle. The tackles flew in. With feeling. There were early markers; Enzo Fernández on Elliot Anderson, for example. That was a duel to watch from the early exchanges. Tempers were primed close to boiling point. The first melee between the rival sets of players broke out in the third minute. More had to be expected.
Argentina were keen to get around Jude Bellingham, to examine whether he might be ripe to respond to a little of their provocation. Who would be the referee, Ismail Elfath? It was a monstrously big game for the American MLS official. There was just so much going on between the players.
England looked confident at the outset, nobody more so than Djed Spence, who Tuchel started ahead of Nico O’Reilly at left-back. Spence was in the mood to surge forward and take his opponents on, to make his moves. He was fearless. There was more than one instance in the first 23 minutes of him almost getting in after a feint and a surge. Argentina closed the door. On 15 minutes, Spence got Anthony Gordon away but, after the winger skated from left to right across the edge of the area, he could not unload.
The foul count piled up. It was simply a physical battle; precious little space for very much football. A snap-shot of the first 45 minutes? It was when Messi got the better of Spence in the 37th minute and then evaded challenges from Harry Kane and Gordon. A split second later, in came Anderson to halt him with a body check. The England midfielder, who revelled in the intensity of the contest, was booked. It was a long way from being the only tactical foul. Thou shalt not pass was the maxim.
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The first effort on goal of any description did not arrive until the 33rd minute, John Stones heading well wide from a Declan Rice free-kick. For Argentina, Fernández fizzed a drive high on 38 minutes. After the first 45 minutes, England’s xG stood at 0.05; Argentina’s was 0.03.
England’s feeling after the first period was that they had shaded the war of attrition. They believed that their Premier League power and physicality would come to the fore. They had to be patient, to wait for their moment. It came in the 55th minute, shortly after Jordan Pickford had denied Julián Alvarez at the other end.
One of Tuchel’s main moves at the start was to play Morgan Rogers at right midfield. The idea was to add a bit more physicality. But Rogers is a creative force and he was at the heart of the breakthrough. After Kane’s searching ball up the inside right was repelled only in part by Nico Tagliafico, Declan Rice went wide to Rogers and it was just a lovely cross from him. Gordon worked the position on Nahuel Molina and the cool close-range finish had England in dreamland.
Spence was a man on a mission. He laid the foundation for cult hero status with his performances as a substitute in England’s previous matches. He embellished it here. As Argentina tried to respond to the concession, they worked a slick counter and Giuliano Simeone was in up the inside right. Spence charged back to make a sensational sliding challenge, which he celebrated like a goal.
There was a scare before the second hydration break when Pickford kept out a close-range Leandro Paredes header. Argentina pushed hard after the restart and by now, England had sunk into a back five, Tuchel having introduced Ezri Konsa for Gordon. England saw out the last 16 win over Mexico with five defenders. Tuchel backed them to do the same.
It was all Argentina, their attack versus England’s defence. It was easy to imagine the agonies of everybody back in England, watching from afar. Alexis Mac Allister hit the post with a header when he had to score. Fernández forced Pickford into another save. Argentina would not be denied. England are coming home. Football is not coming with them.
