Tuchel says England job is his through Euro 2028 after Argentina loss
Thomas Tuchel said he plans to stay as England manager after Argentina’s late 2-1 World Cup semifinal comeback in Atlanta.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
Thomas Tuchel says he is staying with England through Euro 2028, even after Argentina wrecked the Three Lions’ World Cup final dream with two late goals in Atlanta.
ESPN reported that Tuchel retains the backing of the Football Association following Wednesday’s 2-1 semifinal defeat. The England manager signed an extension before the tournament that runs until after Euro 2028.
Asked about his future after the loss, Tuchel pointed first to England’s unfinished business at the World Cup. England still have Saturday’s third-place match against France in Miami Gardens, Florida.
“First of all, the World Cup is not over,” Tuchel said, according to ESPN. “There is still a match to play that we are not looking forward so much to, but there is still a match to play.”
He added that he has a contract until “the home Euros” and said he is looking forward to it, even while admitting it was hard to look that far ahead so soon after the defeat.
Argentina flip the script late
England looked headed for only their second World Cup final when Anthony Gordon scored in the 55th minute. Argentina, the defending world champions, then hit back late through Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez.
ESPN reported that Lionel Messi set up both Argentina goals, with Martínez scoring the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
The result sends Argentina into Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain. England are left to face France in the third-place match.
Tuchel also defended the changes he made while England were trying to protect their lead. ESPN reported that he brought on Dan Burn for Reece James, then replaced Declan Rice with Nico O’Reilly in the 82nd minute.
England’s grip on the game faded. According to ESPN, they had only 12% of the ball between Gordon’s opener and Martínez’s winning goal.
Tuchel rejected the idea that he should second-guess the calls. “As soon as you lose, you get criticized,” he said, according to ESPN. He said no one can know what different decisions would have produced, and added that he accepts responsibility for the substitutions.
Kane questions England’s reaction
Harry Kane, England’s captain, was blunt about the way the team handled going ahead.
“Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is just not enough, so I’m gutted,” Kane said, according to ESPN.
The defeat follows a familiar tournament pattern for England. ESPN noted that England also scored first in the 2018 World Cup semifinal against Croatia and in the Euro 2020 final against Italy, then lost both matches.
Tuchel pushed back on the suggestion that England are trapped by history or a national curse. He said he views the defeat as a football problem, not an “English thing,” and pointed to different players, coaches, opponents and circumstances across those previous losses.
His own diagnosis was tactical and immediate: England were not active enough in their structure, he said, and that is what cost them against Argentina.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.