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Since winning the 1966 World Cup in front of a home crowd, England has been chasing an elusive second trophy. Heading into the 2026 tournament, England held the third-best odds behind eventual winner, Spain, and fourth-place finisher, France. Bayern Munich superstar Harry Kane wore the captain’s armband with pride but the English squad fell short of the ultimate goal due to a late collapse against Argentina in the semifinals.
England manager Thomas Tuchel received the (three) lions’ share of the criticism for the defeat because he opted to drop into a deep shell with his tactical and substitution decisions.
“He’s a big reason why we’re here, a big reason why we got our best finish in 60 years,” said Kane (via @iMiaSanMia). “Of course there are a lot of what ifs from the other night [against Argentina]. He’s one of the best coaches in the world, but even the best make mistakes. That goes for us players as well. The fans have every right to be angry. Thomas knows when he took the job that there will be high pressure and high stakes.”
Tuchel blamed his players for a passive attitude in the back half of the match, but he has a nasty history of sitting on late leads instead of maintaining the assertive approach that earned the lead in the first place. For Bayern fans, that painful memory was the 2023/24 Champions League semifinal when Alphonso Davies scored in the 68th minute but Joselu scored twice to send Real Madrid to the final to defeat Dortmund of all teams.
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