Wayne Rooney slams Thomas Tuchel's defensive tactics in England-Argentina contest
16 Jul 2026

Former England captain Wayne Rooney has criticized Thomas Tuchel's tactical decisions during the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final defeat against Argentina.

The match saw Anthony Gordon score for England early in the second half, only to be substituted by Tuchel shortly after.

The move was widely criticized as it came just before Argentina equalized and later scored a stoppage-time winner to secure their place in the final.

Rooney says Tuchel's substitutions made England players lose belief
Tactical critique

Rooney, speaking on the BBC, said that Tuchel's second-half substitutions would have made England players lose belief.

"If you're an attacking player on that pitch and you go 1-0 up and you see the changes which the manager's making, you're losing belief, there's only so many times you can get away with it," said Rooney.

"Then you start thinking: 'Oh no, we're going to sit back for this long, how are we going to get through this?"

Rooney says England 'surrender' their chance to push for goal
Missed chances

Rooney stressed that after taking the lead, England "surrender" their chance to push for a second goal.

He said it was a panic situation where they couldn't afford to give up ball possession and any chance of scoring again.

"It's a panic, it's a real panic," he added. "You can't go a goal up and then surrender the strength of the ball and surrender any opportunity going to try and get the second goal because that's what you want to do."

Rooney added that if you let players of Argentina's caliber have the ball around your penalty box, they'll eventually score.

Joe Hart also criticizes Tuchel
Early substitutions

Former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart criticized Tuchel for making the changes too soon, implying that it showed his lack of faith in his team.

"Thomas Tuchel, for as much praise as we've given him, for him to change it as soon as he did, I think he realised that's him saying he didn't believe in his team, he didn't think they could land any more punches on Argentina."

"I think Gareth Southgate will be at home watching this game, he took a lot of criticism when it came to the big moments with England when they had the lead and when they were in big games about shutting up shop. I don't see anything's changed in that big moment out there," added Hart.

England see flashes of Southgate in Tuchel
Summary

England manager Tuchel's defensive substitutions backfired as Argentina took control of the game after Gordon's goal.

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez equalized with a stunning long-range strike in the 85th minute, before substitute Lautaro Martinez scored the winner in stoppage time.

Lionel Messi assisted both goals, showcasing his influence on the match.

England, under former boss Southgate, lost to Croatia in 2018 semis after having a lead.

And in 2020 Euros, Italy came back to haunt them in the final after having been down.