England have now lost in the semi-finals in two of the past three men’s World Cups, and were beaten in the European Championship finals in 2021 and 2024.

“There’s not much to say – everyone is gutted,” said England captain Harry Kane.

“When you’re so close, 10 minutes away, and it slips out of your hands like that, obviously the lads are devastated.

“We did so well for 60 minutes. We scored and deserved to be ahead then we struggled to keep the ball, struggled to put pressure on the ball and it allowed them to create more momentum and chances in the final third.

“We’re going to have to find out how we can improve in those situations. It’s been probably the missing piece now for probably the past four or five tournaments.”

Bayern Munich striker Kane has scored six goals at this World Cup and could still win the Golden Boot – though both Lionel Messi, who set up both Argentina goals, and France’s Kylian Mbappe are on eight.

Kane, who turns 33 later this month, refused to be drawn on whether he would still be playing by the time of the 2030 World Cup.

“It’s too early to talk about that – for me it’s about taking it year by year,” said Kane.

“The national team is my pride and joy, it’s what I love to do most.

“Four years is a long way away and I’m 33 in the summer, but as you see with Leo [Messi], he’s still performing at the highest level [at 39]. For now it’s about processing another tough loss.”

Like Kane, Jude Bellingham has also scored six goals for England at this tournament.

“The lads did everything they could over the course of the tournament – I can’t fault the effort and the fight,” said the Real Madrid midfielder.

“That’s the life of a footballer at this level. The more beautiful the journey, the more heartbreaking the end is. I’m really proud of all my team-mates – they put in a magnificent shift over the last few weeks.

“I wanted to be part of an England squad that finally did it and finally got it over the line. To be here telling the fans the same things they have heard for years and years, it’s really gutting.”

Thomas Tuchel insists he has “no regrets” about England’s approach in their World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina.

England led the defending champions deep into the closing stages at Mercedes-Benz Stadium only for Argentina to score twice, in the 85th and 92nd minutes, to snatch a 2-1 victory and seal a place in Sunday’s final where they will play Spain.

The team’s approach, which saw them drop closer towards their own goal to defend their lead, was criticised by many observers, including Fox’s Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney, the former England captain, on the BBC.

Tuchel took responsibility for the side’s exit and insists they played “maybe our best match” given the challenge in front of them.

“You can discuss this with a million coaches (but) I have to make a decision on the pitch,” he told the BBC after the game.

“I analysed the match and I did it a certain way so that’s my responsibility. In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close. We deserved to be up 1-0.

“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 but no regrets.

“I think we saw the mentality throughout the match and the strong group. We played the matches how they were, we played against strong teams in the group, travelled a lot of miles, played at altitude, we played with 10 men, we played in the heat and we overcame every obstacle.

“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.”

Anthony Gordon had given England the lead on 55 minutes, finishing smartly from a Morgan Rogers cross.

The goalscorer went on to be replaced by defender Ezri Konsa as England opted for a back five, with Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly also introduced before Argentina’s late double, through Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez.

Asked by Fox about his choice of changes, Tuchel said: “I did also offensive substitutions in last games. We try to help the players. We decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open, they won every header, they kept crossing and crossing.

“We went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air because straight after our goal, with no substitutions, we just conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances. We tried to help but of course, the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say it was wrong.”

Asked about his England future in his post-game press conference, Tuchel replied: “There’s still another game to play. We’re not looking forward to it perhaps but we are under contract until the home Euros (in 2028).”

Tuchel’s England will take on France in the third-place play-off in Miami on Saturday.

The logic of the Football Association appointing Thomas Tuchel in 2024 was that he was a knock-out specialist, a tactical wizard, someone whose clever bespoke plans for every occasion would give England the best possible chance of winning the World Cup.

England reached some huge games under Gareth Southgate but it often felt as if they were frozen by passivity at crucial moments, unable to make the changes required to keep pace with cleverer opponents, forcing their eventual retreat. Not least in their last World Cup semi-final, eight years ago in Moscow, when they were 1-0 up with 22 minutes left before Croatia finally reeled them in.

At least this time no-one can accuse the England manager of being passive. This defeat to Argentina was a proactive disaster, a self-inflicted collapse, an entirely chosen retreat into their own penalty area which ended the only way it was ever could do — with England losing a third World Cup semi-final, and Argentina going to New York instead.

Some might look at the scoreboard, see that there were only five minutes left when Enzo Fernandez made it 1-1, and argue that England were unlucky. That would be nonsense. England were already deep underwater by that point, unable to resist wave after wave of Argentinean attacks. Only marginal luck and poor finishing meant that England were still ahead.

The real turning point, the moment when England lost the game, had come long before. Remember that England were in the dream position here when Anthony Gordon had put them 1-0 up, a goal of incisive counter-attacking, exactly how Tuchel planned it. The game was precisely where England wanted it, with Argentina needing to come onto them and offering space to attack.

But England blinked. They turned down the opportunity. No pace from the bench, no Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke or Marcus Rashford, to pin Argentina back or kill the game. England barely had a single attack after going 1-0 up. One blocked Kane shot. One counter attack when Morgan Rogers hung onto the ball for too long. And nothing else. The rest of the game was played 20 yards from Jordan Pickford’s goal.

Enzo Fernandez accepted the chance to fire Argentina level (Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)

Remember the Croatia game in Dallas, four long weeks ago. England were 3-2 up and clinging on. Tuchel brought on Saka and Rashford, and they combined on the break with five minutes left to win the game. Tuchel and his assistant Anthony Barry had spent all World Cup talking about England’s Premier League physicality, their speed and intensity, and yet when it mattered most here they declined to utilise it, and decided just to dig in instead — despite facing an Argentina defence susceptible to pace, with Leandro Paredes off, with Nicolas Otamendi on for Lisandro Martinez, leaving huge empty spaces just asking for England players to run into.

By the hour mark England were already worryingly deep, defending their own penalty area. Lionel Messi was already starting to drift into dangerous areas where he could hurt England. When he put the ball onto the forehead of Nico Gonzalez, who forced a save from Jordan Pickford, it was clear that Tuchel had to act. Argentina had — as Lionel Scaloni memorably put it afterwards — started to sense “blood in the water”. The second drinks break was a chance for Tuchel to stem the bleeding. Just like he had done with his changes against Norway on Saturday.

Instead, Tuchel made a tactical alteration that will go down as one of the most consequential mistakes ever by an England manager in a big game. Rather than getting back up the pitch, or giving Argentina anything to worry about, he decided to implement the Azteca Plan again. Going to a back five, camping out in their own box, with Ezri Konsa on as the extra centre-back and Gordon taken off.

The Azteca Plan only worked because Mexico’s sole intention was to sling crosses into the air for Raul Jimenez. England just needed to keep heading the ball away to win the game and make it through. It was the perfect time for a proactive retreat. But to do that here, to build defensive trenches in their own penalty area, meant ceding all the space outside the box to Messi. When he chipped the ball in for Gonzalez to head wide — with 12 minutes left — you did not need to be a Champions League-winning manager to know what the implications would be.

But Tuchel doubled down. Dan Burn came on. England retreated further into their 5-4-1. But what is the point in having all those white shirts in the box when Fernandez is free to find space to shoot from just outside it? England even gave him the chance to get his eye in, Pickford tipping one over before the shot that made it 1-1.

There was only one winner from there, and Alexis MacAllister even hit the post just before Messi curled in another perfect cross for Lautaro Martinez to head in.

Lautaro Martinez heads in Argentina’s winner (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

There was never any prospect of England getting back into the game and taking it to extra time. They had attacked so little over the previous 40 minutes it was almost impossible to suddenly change direction. England had just 12 per cent possession from Gordon’s opener to Fernandez’s winner, radical anti-possession football that would make Jose Mourinho wince. How could the players instantly start thinking, after booting the ball away time after time, that they were meant to take care of it again?

There was no time to repair the damage that had been done. And at the end the England players looked devastated. They knew how close they were to their first men’s World Cup final for 60 years. Gordon took 25 minutes after the final whistle before he finally trudged off down the tunnel.

When England lost at this stage to Croatia in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium it was immensely painful but it also felt like a footballing education. That was a young England team, fancied by no-one beforehand, with an inexperienced manager. They lacked the intelligence and nous to get over the line and into the final. Their retreat under pressure was an involuntary rearguard, the only way they knew.

None of those excuses apply today. This was the fourth semi-final in eight years for many of these England players. The spine of this group has been together for long enough now. With Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham on top of their games, this was a far better England team than in 2018, and with far better options on the bench.

This time was meant to be different, not least because the FA had paid the money to recruit the best manager at this World Cup. Someone who would be able to plan and engineer England’s way through this tournament, taking advantage of the physical edge of a squad of Premier League players. Instead it ended the same way it always does, with England offering nothing in attack, retreating and retreating and retreating until they were overwhelmed.

The only difference was that this time England chose their own destruction.