Football365

·16 July 2026

It’s official — England’s long wait continues. The dream of bringing football home has been delayed once more, extending the years of disappointment to at least 62.

England are out of the World Cup.

There is, however, a rare moment of unity among fans and pundits alike — a shared sense of frustration and a clear target for blame, along with a few thinly veiled jabs aimed at some of the Argentine players.

Even The Sun appeared baffled at the idea that anyone could possibly try to stir up a bit of nationalistic fervour during an international match. How surprising.

It’s not often after an England tournament exit that everyone — from the casual supporter to the serious analyst and from the tabloid journalists to the broadsheet commentators — unanimously agree on one reaction and one scapegoat.

And this time, the consensus across both traditional and social media seems clear: the German manager is being blamed.

But that poses a problem for newspaper websites — how to make their coverage stand out when everyone is saying roughly the same thing?

The Sun’s answer was to pick up on something a few voices online were claiming and turn it into a headline story.

WHAT A MESS: England fans convinced Argentina winner should have been DISALLOWED after ‘VAR ignored Messi stomp’

You can already tell the story doesn’t hold much water, as even The Sun didn’t fully commit to the claim. By presenting it as what “England fans” are saying, they distance themselves from the emotional overreaction of insisting that Lionel Messi stomped on England’s new national hero, Djed Spence, during the build-up to the winning goal — a claim supposedly backed by a few misleading stills and blurry slow-motion clips.

However, the full footage clearly shows Messi didn’t stamp on Spence. In fact, Spence’s discomfort appeared to come from his other leg, likely due to twisting or hitting the ground awkwardly.

So perhaps we can leave that theory behind. England’s exit was painful enough, but at least most people agreed it was largely self-inflicted. It’s refreshing that the usual scapegoating of referees and conspiracy theories seemed to be avoided this time.

Not everything needs to be about bias or conspiracies. Let’s just continue placing all responsibility on Thomas Tuchel — a neat and tidy explanation, and one that oddly feels comforting in its clarity.

As for the controversy after the match, it was certainly ill-judged for several Argentina players to parade a banner reading ‘LAS MALVINAS SON ARGENTINAS’. It was provocative and a direct violation of FIFA’s rules prohibiting political statements. A fine from FIFA seems inevitable.

Still, one can’t help but note the irony of The Sun — of all publications — expressing outrage at such political messaging, describing it as ‘deplorable’ and ‘disgusting’ while historically using similar sentiments to stoke patriotic fervour before England’s international fixtures.

The Sun has long prided itself on restraint and dignity in such matters, of course.

Continuing in that spirit, The Sun also described a fan’s interruption of a Sky News broadcast, where he shouted ‘Shall we talk about the Falklands?’, as a ‘bizarre Argentina rant’. This, from a paper whose editorial meetings likely open with much the same sentiment, feels particularly rich.

In a strange way, this on-camera outburst — self-pitying and undignified — may one day be remembered as England’s own version of a viral cultural moment, akin to “The Succulent Chinese Meal”.

Over at the Mirror, John Cross’s analysis struck a similar tone to most post-match commentary: a mixture of disbelief and frustration at how poor England’s response was after taking a 1-0 lead in a game that had been unfolding as planned up to that point.

Cross also included a curious jab: “Then Fernandez whipped a shot from the edge of the box into the far corner. He never seems to do that for Chelsea.”

Now, Enzo Fernandez’s time at Chelsea has indeed been turbulent. Forcing a move so aggressively that it led to a club suspension was hardly ideal. Yet, claiming that he “never seems” to score for Chelsea is rather unfair.

The Argentine midfielder has scored 31 goals and provided 30 assists in 169 appearances for the Blues — far from negligible. He even reached double figures in goals in last season’s Premier League, despite spending part of the campaign in a sulk.

Overall, that’s about one goal every five and a half games — hardly “never”. Still, it’s undeniable that Fernandez brings an extra spark when playing for Argentina.

Meanwhile, the Daily Star took a different approach to the story of Jude Bellingham’s post-match altercation with Valentin Barco.

Truth behind Jude Bellingham ‘slap’ revealed as England star left furious

After the final whistle, emotions were raw, and tensions were high. Bellingham’s frustration was evident, but reports later clarified that the incident was far less dramatic than initial headlines suggested.