England may be called The Three Lions, but there was only one group of lions on the pitch today. After a scrappy first half, Argentina played with real intent in the second half to overturn a one-goal deficit and were deserving winners on the night in Atlanta.
It looked like it could be England’s night after mistakes by both Argentine full-backs gave them a lead. Left-back Nicolas Tagliafico failed to deal with a tough situation, allowing England to cross, and right-back Nahuel Molina was caught ball-watching as Anthony Gordon snuck in behind to score the opener.
This was soon followed by a brilliant tackle by Djed Spence to deny Argentine right-winger Giuliano Simeone a shooting opportunity. That moment was vital as it seemed like England would weather the early storm and regain some semblance of composure. But the storm never passed. Argentina kept peppering the England goal. On another night, the score could easily have been 4-1. Tuchel reacted by committing entirely to defence. At one point, England had seven defence-focused players on the pitch, with only Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers posing an attacking threat to Argentina. This also meant that there was no outball for England. The pace of Gordon, who was replaced in the 72nd minute, was sorely missed.
It was akin to rolling out a red carpet for the Argentines, as Lionel Messi had started to get into the game more from around the 65th minute. Tuchel’s tactical changes may have kept out a lesser opponent, but it was evident that Argentina were too good for them to work.
The breakthrough for La Albiceleste came in the 85th minute, but it had been coming for at least the past 10 minutes. Enzo Fernandez, who had had a couple of sighters already, was left free just outside the box. Messi was never going to not see him. Fernandez took a quick touch and drilled an outstanding finish into the far corner. England asked for it and Fernandez delivered. From there on, the result was never in doubt. England dug in once again hoping to take it to extra time, still with no pace for a counterattack.
This allowed Argentina, who were irresistible since going behind, to flow forward again and again. And, in the second of nine added minutes, Messi and Co completed another stunning comeback. Mere moments after Alexis Mac Allister hit the post for the second time, Messi beat substitute Nico O’Reilly and floated a right-footed cross to the far post. Argentine substitute Lautaro Martinez found space in a box full of white shirts and headed in emphatically.
Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney came on as a final throw of the dice for England, but the game was well beyond them by then. If the pacey Rashford had been on the pitch earlier instead of the nervy defensive-minded players, England may not have found themselves in this position. The dying seconds had the understandable albeit sad sight of Dan Burn playing as England's attacking spearhead.
In the end, it felt absurdly easy for Argentina. England had tried to match the South American team’s aggression in the first half, but were schooled in the art of controlled aggression instead.
While it is true that Argentina have benefited from inconsistent refereeing earlier in the tournament, there was no hard luck story for England today; they had only themselves to blame. England were living so dangerously that the 1-0 lead never felt anywhere close to secure. Argentina may well have won regardless of what England did; such was their quality and intensity.
