England lost a semi-final they were winning. Now they play France, who are saying goodbye to Didier Deschamps, for a bronze medal nobody expected either side to still care about.
The 55th-minute lead England couldn't hold
For half an hour, Anthony Gordon's goal at Atlanta Stadium on 15 July felt like it might end 60 years of waiting. Then it didn't. Enzo Fernández equalised in the 85th minute, Lautaro Martínez won it in the second minute of stoppage time, and Lionel Messi had a hand in both. Argentina 2, England 1. Full time. England now head to Miami for Saturday's third-place play-off against France, kick-off 10pm BST at the Hard Rock Stadium, with Thomas Tuchel's side chasing their best World Cup finish in six decades.
Gordon's goal, from a Morgan Rogers cross, gave England the lead in a semi-final they'd more or less earned. What came next was the same old story. Tuchel took off Reece James for Dan Burn and Declan Rice for Nico O'Reilly in the 82nd minute and dropped into a back five to see it out. Between Gordon's goal and Martínez's winner, England had 12 percent of the ball. Twelve. The approach that had worked against Mexico in the last 16 and Norway in the quarters fell apart against the world champions.
It's the same pattern as 2018, when Gareth Southgate's England led Croatia in Moscow and lost in extra time, and Euro 2020, when they led Italy at Wembley and lost on penalties. "The moment Gordon scored, England stopped playing," as one analyst put it. "You can't invite Messi onto you for 35 minutes and expect to get away with it. The back five basically handed him both passes." Tuchel, brought in to add the missing piece Southgate never found, said he had no regrets and that his players gave everything.
Deschamps says goodbye, and Mbappé wants the Golden Boot
France are hurting too. Spain beat them 2-0 in Arlington on 14 July, Mikel Oyarzabal from the spot in the 22nd minute, Pedro Porro adding a second in the 58th, and Kylian Mbappé barely got a kick all night. Saturday is Deschamps' last game after 14 years in the job.
Zinedine Zidane already has a verbal agreement to take over, according to ESPN's Julien Laurens. FFF president Philippe Diallo has more or less confirmed it too: "I know his name," he told reporters, without quite saying it out loud. Zidane takes over once the tournament ends.
There's a personal angle worth watching. Mbappé and Messi are tied on eight goals for the Golden Boot, Messi ahead on assists, with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham two behind on six. Play-off goals still count, which gives Mbappé every reason to start and go looking. Speaking to Casinos.com, an editorially independent resource on no deposit casino bonuses for UK players, one supporter put it plainly: "Deschamps is going to send France out to get Mbappé his goals. If Tuchel sits in like he did against Argentina, we lose 3-1 and nobody should be surprised." England, for what it's worth, haven't reached a World Cup final since 1966 and have blown a lead in every semi-final since.
Why third place actually matters here
England have never won a World Cup third-place play-off. Never. They lost 2-1 to hosts Italy in Bari on 7 July 1990, Roberto Baggio and a Salvatore Schillaci penalty cancelling out David Platt's equaliser in Bobby Robson's last match in charge. They lost 2-0 to Belgium in Saint Petersburg on 14 July 2018, Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard scoring, and that squad still matched England's best finish since 1966. Beat France on Saturday and this one repeats it. France, of course, are the team that knocked England out at the 2022 quarter-final in Al Khor, winning 2-1 through Aurélien Tchouaméni and Olivier Giroud, Kane pulling one back from the spot before blazing a second penalty over the bar in the 84th minute.
Kane called the Argentina defeat gutting and said England are still missing the final piece. Fair enough, but does that survive a fixture everyone keeps calling a dead rubber? One observer doesn't buy it: "Tell the man who missed a penalty against France in Doha this doesn't matter. Kane's on six, Bellingham's on six, and beating France for a medal would be the first scalp England have taken off a genuine heavyweight in years." Tuchel has FA backing through Euro 2028 regardless of Saturday's result, so his team sheet will say more about his priorities than his job security.
Two bruised giants, a manager on his way out, and two forwards still chasing an individual prize. That's plenty for neutrals. For England, the job is simpler: win it, take the scalp, and go home with something better than another story about a lead they couldn't keep.