The last time England and Argentina met was at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, where England bested the Argentines 1-0. In front of a loaded Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 68,239 watched on as Argentina fought back to defeat England 2-1 in the final minutes of the match.
Thomas Tuchel made a few noticeable changes to his squad before kickoff. Nico O’Reilly (LB) and Ezri Konsa (RB) were replaced by Djed Spence and Reece James, respectively. Notably, Noni Madueke (RW) was replaced by Morgan Rogers.
The change that paid off in immediate dividends was starting Djed Spence. The Tottenham Hotspur defender went confidently into 1 v 1’s and nutmegged two different defenders within the opening 20 minutes. He was such a menace in the attacking third that Nahuel Molina consistently needed backup to cover him.
To describe the game as “physical” would be insulting to what took place today. Referee Ismail Elfath allowed a lot to slide by under the umbrella of physicality. Shirt pulls, locked legs, and full-strength shoves were only a handful of actions witnessed that went unpunished. To end the first half with each team receiving just a yellow card apiece was divine handling.
England were first to strike in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. On a counterattack, Declan Rice laid the ball off to Morgan Rogers down the attacking third. With a bit of space, Rogers sent a cross across the box to an unmarked Anthony Gordon, who headed the ball past a diving Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez.
Alexis McCallister came close to leveling things in the 75th minute with a laser header that beat Jordan Pickford but rocketed off the post and back into play. He followed that up with another header a minute later, which Pickford was able to pick up and slow down play. The headers were coming thick and fast as Nico González was the next to test Pickford. To Nico’s chagrin, the header beat Pickford but flew just wide of the far post.
As the momentum continued to swing in Argentina’s favor, England switched up defensively to a back five. This happened after Tuchel took off Gordon in favor of defender Ezri Konsa. As the aerial threat increased, the gaffer also brought on 6’7″ Daniel Burn. This decision was a turning point in the match, inadvertently announcing England’s intentions to park the bus (sit back and defend).
“I believe that’s just the nature of the game. As soon as you lose, you get criticized,” said Thomas Tuchel, responding to questioning on his late-stage substitutions. “No one knows what would’ve happened had we made different decisions. It makes no sense to engage in that.”
In the 86th minute, Argentina leveled the match with a rocket from Enzo Fernández. From just outside the top of the box, the Chelsea man lined up just right of the center of the box and launched a rocket from about 30 yards out to beat Pickford to his far side. Six minutes later, Messi chipped the ball into the box to Lautaro Martínez, who headed the ball past Pickford and gave La Albiceleste the lead for the first time in the match. Spence was injured in the lead-up to the goal.
England outplayed Argentina and led the match for 84 minutes. The cruelty of football was their collapse in the final moments, going from world title contenders against Spain to a third place game with France. They were outshot by Argentina 15-5, and outpossessed 64%-36%. Nobody can cry to FIFA about rule implementation or any favoritism in this match. Everyone, fans and media alike, has to admit that, especially today, Argentina was just the better team.
Harry Kane, who’s been fairly quiet the last few matches on the pitch, spoke after the loss. “I feel like we struggled to keep the momentum of the game. We had done so well, we scored, we deserved to be ahead,” he began. “It’s the normal mindset to try to hang on to the one-goal lead. It’s been probably the missing piece now for the last four or five tournaments.”
“Whenever we cleared the ball or won it back, we didn’t keep it enough. We tried to shift the momentum and finish it off with a second goal. It’s hard to process it all right now, obviously. We’re gonna have to look at the group. Whether we win or lose, we’re together, and that’s just the way it goes.”
After the match, the Argentina players left a towel in their defensive third that read, “LAS MALVINAS SON ARGENTINAS”, meaning “The Falkland Islands are Argentina’s”. Argentina claims it inherited the islands from Spain after gaining independence, arguing that the territory was wrongfully seized when British forces expelled the Argentine garrison in 1833. The 1982 Falklands War remains a highly emotional and defining event in modern Argentine history. Officials quickly removed the message.
England will face France in the Third Place Match in Miami, FL, on Saturday, July 18.
-Jon Jones
Photos: Eyoel Fassil