The German coach resorted to primitive methods... and in the end could not avoid defeat.

Comments by German Thomas Tuchel, the current England manager, about Gareth Southgate, the previous England manager, have come back to haunt him after the Three Lions' dream of winning the World Cup collapsed.

The England national team lost to Argentina 2-1 on Wednesday in the 2026 World Cup semi-final, meaning the Three Lions will play the third-place match against France early next Sunday.

Argentina was on the verge of losing 1-0 as England led with a goal by Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute, before Lionel Messi's teammates turned the tables and scored two goals in stoppage time (85th and 90+2) through Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez.

Tuchel faced widespread media and fan criticism for his players dropping deep into defense for over half an hour and making only defensive substitutions, yet still conceding two goals in the final minutes, dashing the Three Lions' hopes of reaching the World Cup final for the first time since 1966.

The English newspaper The Sun reported that between Anthony Gordon's goal and Lautaro Martinez's goal, England had just 12% possession, an unforgivable rate.

Since last night, retweets of a video clip of Tuchel from March 2025 have nearly doubled, in which he spoke about England's loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, saying: 'Their fear of being eliminated from the tournament was greater than their fear of enthusiasm and the desire to win it.'

The English newspaper commented on the video: 'This is Tuchel talking about England's modest performance at Euro 2024. The German coach was right, but the Three Lions were even more fearful in Atlanta (against Argentina).'

It added that Tuchel was supposed to be an experienced coach who would never think of resorting to such primitive and backward methods, yet England did that in all three knockout matches when they were ahead.