Speaker 1: England had them, and then England gave it away for
thirty minutes at Mercedes Benz Stadium, England were going to
the World Cup Final. Anthony Gordon scored in the fifty
fifth minute, The defense was organized and Argentina looked frustrated
for half an hour. England were the better team. They
had shut down Messi, they had limited Argentina to half chances,
and then in ten devastating minutes it all fell apart.
Enzo Fernandez equalized in the eighty fifth minute. Lauta row
Martinez scored the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
England won Argentina two, and just like that, the tournament
was over. So what went wrong? The first problem was
what happened after Gordon scored. England did what England always
do when they take the lead in a big game.
They sat back, They stopped pressing, They invited Argentina onto
them and hoped the defense could hold on for thirty
five minutes against a team that had already come from
behind to beat Egypt and Switzerland in this tournament. You
cannot do that against Argentina, not with Messi on the field,
not with Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo de Paul running the midfield.
When you give that team time and space, they will
find a way through, and they did. Gareth Southgate's substitutions
were too late and too conservative. By the time Enzo
scored the equalizer, England had been pinned in their own
half for fifteen minutes. Argentina were controlling possession, Messi was
finding pockets of space and England's midfield was exhausted. But
Southgate waited until the equalizer to make changes. At that point,
the momentum had already shifted. Argentina were flying, England were rattled,
and there was no tactical adjustment that could stop what
came next. Harry Kane was invisible. England's all time leading scorer,
the player who was supposed to be the difference maker
in a game of this magnitude had zero impact. No
hold up play, no link up with Foe Den or
baling Harm, no shots on target. He touched the ball
in the final third maybe three times in the second half.
At thirty three years old, in what might be his
last World Cup. That performance raises serious questions about whether
Caine can still be the centerpiece of this England team.
Then there is the physical toll. England played one hundred
twenty minutes against Norway on Saturday. They went to extra time.
Balingham produced two goals that saved their tournament, but that
effort took a physical and emotional toll that was visible
on Wednesday. Balingham looked spent, the defense looked a step
slower than usual, and when Argentina turned up the intensity
in the final ten minutes, England had nothing left to respond.
But the biggest issue is the same issue England have
had for forty years. The Argentina curse is real nineteen
eighty six, the hand of God and the goal of
the Century nineteen ninety eight, Beckham's red card and the
penalty shootout twenty twenty two, another penalty shootout loss, and
now twenty twenty six, a lead that evaporated in ten minutes.
England have now lost to Argentina at four consecutive World Cups,
four different generations of players, four different managers, four different
tactical approaches, and the result is always the same. Argentina
find a way, England find a way to lose. The
mentality difference is stark. When Argentina went behind to Gordon's goal.
They attacked, they pushed numbers forward, they took risks. When
England went ahead, they retreated, They invited pressure. They played
like a team that was scared of losing rather than
a team that wanted to win. That is the story
of this England team in knockout football. They have the talent.
Bellingham is one of the best most young players in
the world. Foden is a Premier League champion, Rice is
one of the best defensive midfielders on the planet. Stones
and Waker are elite defenders. But when the pressure is
at its absolute highest, England shrink, Argentina expand, England shrink,
and that is why Argentina are in the final and
England are playing for third place against France on Saturday.
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