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World Cup 2026: England coach Thomas Tuchel defends semi-final tactics in Argentina loss - BBC Sport

BBC Sport•Sami Mokbel

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Thomas Tuchel at a news conference in Miami before England's third-place play-off with France

England head coach Thomas Tuchel has defended his tactical decisions during the World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina in a tense news conference.

Addressing the media before Saturday's third-place play-off against France in Miami, Tuchel said "if you need someone to blame, I take the responsibility".

But the German head coach insisted he had no regrets and said he and his team felt the pain most of all, describing it as the "scar we carry now".

England were minutes away from reaching their first men's World Cup final for 60 years.

But a 1-0 lead agonisingly turned to a 2-1 defeat in the closing stages as England's defence got deeper and deeper under constant pressure from the brilliance and perseverance of Lionel Messi's world champions.

During the news conference Tuchel also said:

England's team spirit should not be questioned, but his side became "too passive" in the latter stages
There is a gap to the top teams and he will not stop trying to close it
The Mexico and Norway games had an impact by taking a lot physically out of the players
Captain Harry Kane ended up so deep because "that's what you do if you defend in a block".

'I have no regrets' - Tuchel

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'If you need someone to blame, I take the responsibility'

Asked about how he viewed the last 35 minutes of the game having had time to reflect, Tuchel said he felt "the same way - that we were too passive".

"If you're asking if I regret my decision, if this is the question, then I don't regret my decisions," he added.

"I felt that the momentum switches in the match. And I tried to help my team...

"I took several decisions, trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness, and I took the decision in order to help the team and get the result. We didn't get the result.

"So I take, of course, the responsibility and for these decisions. I would regret if I didn't help. I would regret if we didn't react."

Tuchel said he was not willing to engage "in this kind of game" over who is to blame.

"No problem," he said. "This is the deal that you sign up for, but I will not engage.

"For me, there is no-one to blame. If you need someone to blame, I take the responsibility. I'm the head coach."

Asked why England's record goalscorer Kane played so deep in the latter stages, he said: "What do you mean? Like in the last 30 minutes?

"Why we defended in a deep block. Well, that's what you do if you defend in a block. We were not active enough."

Tuchel said Argentina had "played with a lot of momentum after our goal".

"They had a lot of offensive changes, and a lot of offensive positions," the 52-year-old added.

"We could not stop the crosses, and we could not stop the runners into the box.

"So we decided to play a back five, to have more width in the field, to be closer to the guys who cross.

"We just became too passive, and Argentina, by the way, found another gear and they found the total flow.

"We played in the semi-final against the reigning world champions.

"We were 85 minutes 1-0 up. We played against the best player in the world, and we lost 2-1, which is painful."

Tuchel was asked if he had studied data which showed England's physical performance levels against Argentina were lower than the DR Congo game in the same stadium earlier in the tournament.

He said "even if we don't want to admit it because it feels like an excuse", the Mexico game with 10 men in the altitude of the Azteca Stadium and the heat against Norway in Miami "cost us more than we maybe thought".

"The players literally gave everything physically [in] every single match. If you see this data drop, there must be a reason behind it, because the motivation was through the roof," he said.

'We feel this pain most of all'

Tuchel explained his pain at the semi-final defeat, which came after Argentina scored in the 85th and 92nd minutes.

"We feel the most pain of all, and it is our scar that we carry now," he said.

"It's our pain, my pain, and the players' pain.

"It is a very painful defeat, and we have to live with this defeat, first and foremost, not the critics, not the experts, not our family members, who suffer as well with us, and want only the best for us.

"We will overcome it, we will use it, we will have a reaction, and it starts from tomorrow.

"If we win the game tomorrow, we have the best results of a World Cup in 60 years. It's a perspective to it."

Tuchel said the loss showed that England still had a gap to close.

"We believed we could do it," he added. "We were dreaming about it.

"Still, I believe that three other nations have almost an expectation to win the title, not us.

"France, Spain, Argentina [are] almost there on that level that they expect to win.

"We are not there yet. There is still a gap to close. And this is what we will do.

"This is what we will do from tomorrow. We will not stop chasing. We will not stop hunting, we will not stop challenging."

Analysis - Tuchel fronts up and answers tough questions

The pain was etched all over Tuchel's face.

It was his final pre-match news conference of the World Cup.

Not the setting he wanted, of course. He didn't want to be here in Miami.

Tuchel had designs on being in the Big Apple this weekend for the World Cup final.

Instead, he's in the Sunshine State preparing for the bronze-medal game against France.

Not that there was much sunshine in his mood as he addressed the media.

The pain of the semi-final loss to Argentina has been exacerbated by the stinging criticism he has faced from supporters, pundits and journalists over England's defensive retreat in the closing stages.

Tuchel roused himself enough to provide a passionate defence of his efforts during the late capitulation against Argentina.

But the agony was inescapable. Everyone in the room could sense it.

He was clearly emotional, too.

Of course, we can forgive him that. It's not easy to sit there and answer questions so soon after such a heart-breaking loss.

The fact the vast majority of the questions centred around his own personal performance against Argentina was perhaps another reason why he wasn't his usual personable self.

But he fronted up and didn't shirk the flurry of uncomfortable questions that came his way.

There's a lot to be said for that.