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The German coach confirms that he does not regret his technical decisions during the game
England manager Thomas Tuchel of Germany repeated a phrase that caused a lot of pain after his side lost 2-1 to Argentina in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday night.
The Three Lions took the lead through Anthony Gordon before Argentina turned the game around in the dying minutes to book their place in the final to face Spain on Sunday.
Tuchel’s words brought to mind the poignant sight of Egypt coach Hossam Hassan in a similar scenario when the Pharaohs were out in the Round of 16 against Argentina, when his side gave up a two-goal lead in the dying minutes to lose 3-2.
Hossam Hasan appeared excited in a video call with his wife after the game and said: “We were very close… I hate losing,” a phrase that also seemed to sum up Tuchel’s feelings after a similar scenario that ended in elimination.
We were very close, we were very close. https://t.co/r3jcmp56oW
— Alanjar (@Abdelrahman97) July 8, 2026
“We were very close”
Tuchel said in his statements to the BBC.BBC:), the English team was a few steps away from reaching the final, but after scoring the leading goal, they lost control of the match.
He added: “We are very disappointed, we were very close, but after the goal we became more passive and allowed the opponent to create a lot of chances.”
He explained that his team did not manage to get possession of the ball, which gave Argentina the advantage, adding: “We couldn’t turn the tide of possession in our favor and we had a lot of passes, shots and chances.”
He continued: “We were close, but after scoring a goal, we did not manage to maintain the same level.
Tuchel justifies his changes
As for the substitutions he made during the game, the German coach confirmed that he tried to help the players, given the increasing pressure from the Argentina national team.
He said: “In the previous matches I also made attacking changes, but we got a direct dangerous chance, so we decided to go to the defense with five players because the spaces became too big.”
He added: “Argentina were winning all the balls in the air and kept sending in crosses, so we turned to a five-man back line to close down the spaces and limit the danger from high balls.”
He noted that his team started to suffer immediately after the goal, even before making any changes, adding: “We got a lot of passes and chances, so we tried to help the players.”
He concluded this part of his speech by saying: “At the end of the day, the onus is on the coach and when things don’t go the way he wants, it’s easy to say the decision was wrong.”
“We wanted the second goal, but we didn’t touch the ball.”
Tuchel confirmed that England wanted a second goal to settle the match, but a loss of possession prevented that.
“Of course we wanted to score the second goal, but that doesn’t happen if you can’t keep the ball. We couldn’t get it out of our areas.”
He added: “I didn’t feel like making more offensive changes was going to change anything. We stayed with the same style of play, but we became more negative as time went on.”
He continued. “We weren’t winning the ball anymore and we weren’t keeping it, so I don’t think it was tactical or the way we played because we didn’t change anything, but the match changed completely.”
“I understand that there are millions of coaches who think after the match that they would have made better decisions.”
“I have no regrets”
Despite being out of the tournament, Tuchel stressed that he does not regret his technical decisions, stressing that the players gave everything they had.
“Everyone can discuss these decisions, but I was required to make them on the pitch and I analyzed the match as I saw fit and this is my responsibility.”
He added: “I don’t feel any regrets at the moment. The players gave everything they had and we were very close. I think we deserved to go ahead by one goal without answering.”
He continued. “We played one of our best matches, and maybe the best, given the circumstances we faced. The team was great, but we couldn’t cross the finish line and I have no regrets.”
A tribute to the spirit of the players
The England manager concluded his remarks by praising the performance of his players throughout the tournament, stressing that they overcame many challenges before reaching the semi-finals.
He said: “The players showed strong character throughout the match. We played the tournament in difficult conditions. We played against strong teams. We’ve come a long way. We played matches at different heights. We played with ten players and high temperatures. We overcame all these obstacles.”
He added: “We were very close today, but it’s not the time to analyze our entire campaign. We left because we lost a crucial game.”
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