England boss Thomas Tuchel says he hopes to fix his team’s errors when they face Argentina in the World Cup 2026 semi-final on Wednesday (8pm kick-off UK time).
Two goals from Jude Bellingham made the difference as England beat Norway in the quarter-finals, but Tuchel criticised the Three Lions’ technical errors.
He nevertheless believes that Argentine star Lionel Messi will bring out the best in his side.
Technically poor
Although England overcame the Norwegians, Tuchel was critical of his troops.
“We had too many technical errors that hold us back from finding a rhythm,” he said.
“We were rushed in our decision making, not patient enough or disciplined enough, and it cost us our rhythm.
“We improved in the tournament in defending and defending as a team.
“This is something we need at the highest level [against Argentina].”
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High expectations
Tuchel further explained how toppling the Argentines would be a huge task – but he’s still confident his team can get it done.
The German stated: “The acceleration, combined with technical execution, has to be at a higher level.
“A set-up like [Argentina] will bring the best out of us and the best out of our players.
“We know we are here, we were never shy of expecting that from us and dreaming it.
“We are in the semi-finals and we arrive very hungry. We want to have the next win.
“It is a big football match but we are very excited and ready to go.”
Stopping Messi
Any conversation about Argentina’s football team will involve a focus on Messi, who has the joint-highest number of goals in the tournament so far.
And the England boss didn’t shy away from that conversation, saying: “We are totally aware that we cannot stop him all the time and for 100 per cent.
“He’s a very different player from Erling Haaland, but we did very, very well in our way, in the way you should maybe play against Erling. So we will find a way now.
“I was thinking about this, whether we do an old-school man mark. Not sure if we follow through with the idea but it crossed my mind.
“Everyone knows the spaces where he wants to show up. If you analyse matches, he sees things faster. The ball drops to him and he finds the gap.
“We have found some patterns in their games but if you close the pattern, they will find a new one.
“It is very unique to play against the reigning champions and Lionel Messi. It is a big match in a big tournament.
“There is a lot to take care of. We are here to play our way and impose our style. We are here to play the semi-final our way.
“We know how big the ask is but we are ready for it.”
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Bellingham truce
Comments from both Tuchel and star midfielder Jude Bellingham after the Norway game seemed to blow up as the pair looked to be in disagreement.
Tuchel was very critical of how England played and Bellingham reacted in opposition, calling for more positivity regarding their feats.
The England manager admitted he cleared it up with the squad the next day and that there aren’t any issues with the squad for the Argentina match.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Tuchel said: “I wonder who blows these things up, eh? So, there is nothing to blow up and if it’s blown up, it’s blown up in the media, of course.
“What do you expect of a player that just played 120 minutes and gave literally everything if you shorten the comment of his coach, if you don’t tell him that he was world class, if you don’t tell him that he has world-class actions.
“If you just cut all this and tell him, ‘oh, your coach said you were sloppy’, what do you expect?
“Yeah, of course you get the comment that you get and then you try to blow it up and people try to create misunderstandings and cracks where no cracks are.
“We come from the same place. We come from being competitive and I am a competitive coach. I push this team to the limit and that was my assessment.
“I think the question was unfair in this moment towards Jude because he cut all the compliments out of my assessment and just asked about the critical points, so I can understand.
“What do you expect of a player that just gave everything and stands there in front of a microphone in a flash interview?
“It’s just what it is but we’re as close as ever and close more than ever before.
“You can see that on the field. The energy and mentality in camp is excellent in the last days and we are ready to go for it [against Argentina].”
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