Tuchel stuns his own players with record defensive block in semi-final

Thomas Tuchel left the 2026 World Cup under criticism from his own dressing room. England, leading 1-0 thanks to Anthony Gordon (55’), collapsed late in the match against Argentina, conceding two late goals from Enzo Fernandez (85’) and Lautaro Martinez (90’+2) to lose 1-2 in the semi-final.

According to the Telegraph, Tuchel’s management “stunned some English players”. The German manager replaced Gordon — the goalscorer — and Declan Rice with two defenders, Ezri Konsa and Dan Burn, plunging his team into a 5-4-1 that only intensified the defensive retreat already underway well before his first changes in the 72nd minute.

Opta data reveals the scale of the phenomenon. Between Gordon’s goal (55’) and Fernandez’s (85’), England’s possession dropped to 12%. It is the lowest figure recorded in the World Cup, over a period of at least ten minutes, for a team leading on the score since sixty years. During this half-hour, the Three Lions attempted only 38 passes, completing 26 — less than one per minute. The share of long passes jumped from 7.5% to 26.3%, a sign that players were primarily seeking to clear the ball far from their box. Marc Guéhi was the outfield player most active in passing during this sequence, with only six attempts, two of which were directed to his goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

The question that remains divisive: did the English defensive approach stem from an explicit instruction from Tuchel or a collective reflex from his players keen to preserve the lead? What is established, however, is that the switch to 5-4-1 decided by the manager worsened an already critical situation, allowing Argentina to regain a foothold and overturn the match in the final five minutes.