World Cup Breakfast: Thomas Tuchel's tactics torn apart by several ex-England stars after Argentina defeat, the damning second-half stat as Three Lions are tamed, match highlights - and what to look out for today

Hello and welcome to Daily Mail Sport's World Cup Breakfast from day 36 at the tournament – your one-stop shop for everything you've missed overnight in North America.

For all the latest news, viral moments and what to look out for, stay right here.

Well, there's only one place to start isn't there.

England

have suffered another heartbreaking defeat at a major tournament, have lost another bitter clash with Argentina - and watched another opportunity at World Cup glory slip through their fingers.

For those of you who turned off your television sets and could not stomach any of the post-match fallout until this morning, you may have missed what

Thomas Tuchel

, England's players and noteworthy pundits had to say after

Argentina's late 2-1 win.

Tuchel has 'no regrets' over his second-half tactics

England seized the advantage with an opening goal through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute, but every aspect of the match afterwards belonged to Argentina.

The Three Lions dug in to try and hold on to their lead, as they did admirably against Mexico and Norway en route to the semi-final, and conceded almost the entirety of possession to Argentina who launched a 40-minute onslaught.

Thomas Tuchel insists he has no regrets over his tactics during England's defeat by Argentina

Ezri Konsa was brought on after the second-half's hydration break before Dan Burn and Nico O'Reilly came off the bench in the 82nd minute to give England six defenders on the pitch.

The defensive tactics proved costly as Argentina struck twice in both the 85th and 92nd minute, profiting from England not being able to offer a single attack after Gordon's goal.

Tuchel stood by his decisions at full-time, insisting he had 'no regrets'.

'We were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances and could not turn the ball possession around. We conceded so many crosses and chances and shots,' Tuchel said after the match.

'We were close but we could not keep the level up after we scored.'

'Of course we wanted to go for the second goal, but I did not feel an offensive substitution would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 but became passive and we couldn't win any balls and couldn't keep the ball, so I don't think it was a structural problem.'

'No regrets, the team gave everything and we were very very close. We deserved to be up one nil, we played one of our better matches, maybe the best match, at the moment, no regrets.'

Leading 1-0 in the second half, Tuchel decided to go defensive early and it backfired terribly

Rooney rips into Tuchel's changes

England legend

Wayne Rooney

did not hold back in his assessment of Tuchel's second-half tactics and said the German 'put us under pressure' by going on the defensive after

Anthony Gordon

's 55th-minute opener.

'We got ourselves in such a good position and we didn't know what to do,' he told the

BBC

. 'We sat back, allowed them to come on to us. They put us under pressure and we cracked. As soon as they got the first goal, it was inevitable they'd get the second.

'When you go on top, you have to stay on top. We go 1-0 up, then sit back, make changes, go five or six at the back. If you allow (Lionel)

Messi

and Argentina to come onto you, you're asking for trouble.'

He later added: 'When we had the ball, we had no outlet. We kept kicking it long.

'When Tuchel made those changes, the players on the pitch would've been thinking, 'oh no'. They'd have known what was coming. They would've needed a massive amount of luck to see the game out.'

Former Three Lions goalkeeper and fellow BBC pundit Joe Hart added: 'They went back to what they did against Mexico and Norway and locked the door. but that freed up Lionel Messi and he absolutely ran the show for the last 15 minutes.

'As soon as that first goal was scored, and England had made the changes they'd made, it was only going to go one way.'

Wayne Rooney blamed England's defeat on Tuchel's decision to go defensive early doors

Former England strikers bemoan second-half slip-up

Alan Shearer

- 'Best team won. The changes left us without an out ball. We had 6 defenders on with 25 mins left. Frustrating.'

Michael Owen

- 'Watch Spain at 1-0 last night. That's courage. That's bravery. And then watch England at 1-0. What's the difference? We are a better team than Argentina, I've no doubt in my mind. But we deserved to get beat in the end. In fact, it could have been 4-1. Bringing on 3 defenders at 1-0 up.

'What message does that send? I wrote it in my Daily Mail column after the Mexico game. Until we understand that courage and bravery is controlling possession under pressure and not booting / heading it up the field 40 yards then this will always be the end result.'

Robbie Fowler

- 'Tuchel gonna be in for a busy few days Got it absolutely so wrong there, Questions going to be asked and quite rightly.'

Chris Sutton

- 'The worst thing about Thomas Tuchel is he said he has no regrets after possibly one of the worst coaching errors in living memory… imagine the lift the Argentina players got knowing England had gone into defensive mode and were just trying to cling on… a huge opportunity gone!'

Several ex-England stars took to social media to express their disappointment after the game

Louie Louie's piano bar, such a brilliant place in Dallas, for the penultimate night of this trip, where a superb duo played requests which assumed more and more of a World Cup hue as the evening wore on.

There were fans of every description, and decent England representation among the 100 or so who were in. So plenty of Wonderwall. As the night wore on, a few of the Three Lions contingent had to be encouraged to get down from the flimsy wooden chairs they were standing on, for the protection of the furniture as well as themselves. But the Dutch, the French, Spanish and Americans and all joined in, taking us a long way from some of the attritional nights I've experienced with England in Europe.

I took a whisky shot with the bartender and he told me that this World Cup had been a reminder of what unites us. 'We're human at the end of it all,' he said. It's a sentiment I've heard so often at the five World Cups I've been fortunate enough to cover, but never so much as at this one.

The world is more divided than ever before and it seems like we needed the reminder. Louie Louie's encapsulated that. One of the very best of nights.

IAN HERBERT

The music at Louie Louie's Piano Bar is Dallas brought people together in true World Cup spirit

Thanks to

Sofascore

for the graphic.

Five England players were named in Sofascore's Team of the Day despite suffering defeat

David Beckham went through what every England fan went through in Atlanta yesterday evening, from sheer jubilation to devastating heartbreak after yet another excruciating World Cup exit.

Beckham and his wife Victoria watched the devastating semi-final with their children Romeo, 23, Harper, 15, Cruz, 21, and his girlfriend Jackie Apostel, 30.

Cruz was left to console his father after the former England international broke down in tears at full-time, perhaps reminded of the heartbreak he felt when losing to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup last 16.

Rolling Stones icon Mick Jagger, former One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson and television personality Zara McDermott were also among the notable names who watched England's disappointing World Cup exit live from Atlanta Stadium.

David Beckham went through an emotional rollercoaster before suffering heatbreak in Atlanta

The England legend was left with his head in his hands after Argentina's stoppage time winner

He was the picture of sheer joy celebrating with his family when England took the lead

Mick Jagger looks on omniously as England and Argentina engage in a cagey start in Atlanta

Louis Tomlinson and Zara McDermott appear in high spirits early on in the World Cup match

Djed Spence went viral on social media after making a remarkable tackle to deny Argentina a goal-scoring opportunity just minutes after Gordon put England in front.

Spence, who was heavily criticised by some pundits and fans after the Three Lions' narrow 2-1 win over DR Congo in the round of 32, became an unlikely hero for England the deeper they advanced at the World Cup - and had his best defensive moment in Atlanta.

Giuliano Simeone broke clear of England's defence to fashion a glorious goalscoring opportunity for Argentina in the 57th minute - no more than 120 seconds after Gordon's opening goal - but Spence dashed back quickly to make a stunning tackle to deny the chance.

Soaking in the cheers, Spence roared as if he had scored a goal while his England team-mates raced to his side to offer a rousing pat on the back.

While it unfortunately wasn't to be for England in Atlanta, Spence undoubtedly produced the most heroic defensive play of the game and was given his flowers by a string of fans on social media.

When his well-taken tap-in rippled the net, Anthony Gordon was on cloud nine. His goal was, at this stage, sending England into their first World Cup final for 60 years.

Less than an hour later, he is photographed sitting alone in distant contemplation, wondering how on earth his side had let this slip.

One of England's stars of the tournament, Gordon played incredibly during the knockout stage and deserved his goal - even if the game ended in the cruellest of circumstances.

Never has a picture encapsulated the sadness, loneliness and regret felt after a heartbreaking defeat.

Goal-scorer Anthony Gordon stares at the turf after England are dumped out of the World Cup

This damning statistic outlines just how defensive England became after Anthony Gordon's opener in Atlanta.

Between Gordon's goal (55th minute) and Lautaro Martinez's winner for Argentina (92nd minute), England averaged just 12 per cent possession.

Talk about a momentum shift. And one that cost England the game...

1. How will Tuchel handle the backlash?

When the dust settles, perhaps Tuchel will reflect on England's negativity after scoring first and accept that going all-out-defence was the wrong move.

It's important to note that his side sat back almost immediately after Gordon's opener - almost 15 minutes before he made his first change after the second-half hydration break - and that England's overall mentality was something Tuchel had to grapple with.

But rather than making positive changes to regain control, he chose to double down on inviting pressure by making a string of defensive changes - and in the end it cost England heavily.

Tuchel was brought in for these types of match-ups, to get England over the line in high-stakes games against imposing opposition after Gareth Southgate had failed to do so with cautious tactics over multiple occasions.

Unfortunately for England supporters, it was the same old story as they watched their side take the lead, sit deep, invite pressure and ultimately throw the game away.

Many fans have already highlighted that Tuchel ironically called out Southgate's England for being 'too afraid' of losing and playing too negatively in big matches.

Speaking on England's Euro 2024 campaign which they lost in the final, he said: 'They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament than having the excitement and hunger to win it.'

Tuchel will undoubtedly be under a mountain of pressure after losing in this manner to Argentina. His long-term relationship with England fans could be determined by how he handles that heat.

As for the FA, chief executive Mark Bullingham has already issued his backing to Tuchel after England's heartbreaking defeat and urged he will remain in charge for Euro 2028.

2. The final: Spain vs Argentina - Lamine Yamal vs Lionel Messi

While the semi-final fallout will continue, and continue to sting, we must not forget that there is a final to be played on Sunday between Spain and Argentina.

The match is bound to be an intriguing one with so many sub-plots but none bigger than Lamine Yamal versus Messi.

The latter has had a few 'heir apparent' candidates since leaving Barcelona but no one has lived up to the billing quite like Yamal yet.

And who can forget that iconic photo of Messi, 39, holding Yamal, 19, when he was a baby too. The photos were taken in 2007 for a charity calendar and were posted on Instagram by Yamal's father, Mounir Nasraoui, in 2024 with the caption: 'The beginning of two legends.'

One image shows Yamal in a blue plastic bathtub as Argentina's Messi laughs and holds a hand out to him. Another shows Yamal's mother crouches beside the football legend and her wide-eyed son.

Messi held a baby Lamine Yamal for a charity photo shoot in 2007 while a Barcelona player

One image shows Yamal in a blue plastic bathtub as Argentina's Messi laughs and holds a hand out to him. Yamal's mother crouches next to her son

3. The World Cup's impact on Arsenal

Club football is at the back of the mind for many with the World Cup still ongoing, but should Arsenal fans be worried for next season?

Many supporters have expressed their concerns about the toll of football on key players such as Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka - who have both struggled with pain while in North America.

And their fears could worsen with William Saliba's reported back injury. The centre back went off early in the first half of France's 2-0 defeat by Spain in Tuesday's semi-final. Now

L'Equipe

reports he could face five months on the sidelines if he has surgery to fix the long-standing issue.

Arsenal kick off their defence of the title on August 21, welcoming newly-promoted Coventry to the Emirates.

It's too early to think about that though, alas, England. Alas...

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