Rooney accuses Tuchel of surrendering lead as England fall to Argentina in World Cup semi-final

Wayne Rooney accused Thomas Tuchel of surrendering England’s lead after a run of defensive substitutions contributed to a World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina in Atlanta.

England had taken the lead through Anthony Gordon, only for Tuchel to introduce Ezri Konsa in place of the goalscorer after the second-half hydration break. Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly then replaced Reece James and Declan Rice, and within two minutes of that double change, Enzo Fernandez equalised for Argentina. England did not recover.

Speaking on BBC One, Rooney was unsparing in his assessment. “It’s a panic, it’s a real panic. You can’t go a goal up and then surrender. Surrender the ball and surrender any opportunity of trying to get the second goal. You want to be on the front foot when the pressure is on Argentina to get back in the game.”

Rooney also pointed to the psychological impact of the changes on the players still on the pitch. “If you’re on that pitch, go 1-0 up and then see the changes the manager is making… you are losing belief. There’s only so many times you can get away with it. You start thinking ‘we’re going to sit back, how are we going to get through this?’”

Burn had been used in a similar holding role to close out victories over Mexico and Norway earlier in the tournament, but Rooney argued the same approach was ill-suited against a side of Argentina’s quality.

“Once we got the first goal, we didn’t look to go for the second goal,” Rooney said. “For the players, and for me, Thomas Tuchel made the decision, and when you make the decision it is a gamble. The gamble he made was to go with five at the back, which allowed them to dictate the game. The decisions Thomas Tuchel made, we have to be honest, have cost us tonight.”