England made three changes to their starting lineup for the World Cup semi-final against Argentina on July 15, introducing Reece James and Djed Spence into the back four and Morgan Rogers on the wing [1, 2]. Argentina made one change, with Giuliano Simeone replacing Rodrigo De Paul [1, 2].
England took the lead in the 55th minute when Anthony Gordon scored, giving them a 1-0 advantage [3]. After the goal, England’s coach Thomas Tuchel shifted to a back five to strengthen the defense, explaining, "They won every header. They kept crossing and crossing. So we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be stronger in the air... the responsibility is on the coach" [3]. He also made substitutions, bringing on Dan Burn for Reece James and Declan Rice for Nico O’Reilly [3].
Despite England's efforts, Argentina scored twice late in the game. Enzo Fernandez equalized in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martinez scored the winner during the second minute of stoppage time to seal a 2-1 victory for Argentina [3]. England captain Harry Kane reflected on the loss, saying, "We played a good game for the large majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is not enough" [3].
This result marks only the second time this century that a team scoring first in a World Cup semi-final failed to reach the final; the other occurrence was also England in 2018 against Croatia [3].
Argentina will face Spain in the World Cup final on July 19 [1, 2, 3].
