Even my friend who doesn't watch sports and knows nothing about soccer said "I heard the fix was in for Argentina." We can blame Tuchel too. Not only did he lose the game for England, he's not appropriate for primetime.
There is also considerable hype for Yamal, who they're trying to make the next Messi. Perhaps they want a "changing of the guard narrative", but I'm sure they're jonesing for another hit of Messi Great Man™-omania.
And the second goal they gave up -- a cross and a header-- a mainstay of English soccer. It is ridiculous for Tuchel to think defense is just putting every defender available on the field at this level.
I’ll be pulling for Spain over Argentina, even though that means I’ll have to root for the left back, Cucaracha..
This game is case in point why I don't think the US will win a world cup in my lifetime. The days where we can compete on grit and determination are over, and we are a very long way from matching the technique and savvy of the very best teams. Argentina plays the game like their lives depend on it, and they have quality from front to back, even if they are lacking an electric attacker. (outside of Messi, of course) By the way, people are suffering from Messi Derangement Syndrome. There is no fix by FIFA, that is just ridiculous. Just relax and enjoy this player. When I was young, I used to root against Michael Jordan. Now I'm sad I couldn't just enjoy a once in a lifetime player.
He’s one of the most uptight coaches I’ve ever seen. He even trashed his team after they beat Norway. Shoe’s on the other foot now, Tom!
Given that it sometimes feels like whole the Spain team is Catalan, I don't think there is much doubt.
Argentina deserves credit for pulling out all these games late, but setting aside some big calls that went their way, they had a laughably easy path to the finals. Cape Verde? Egypt? Switzerland? And their group was Jordan, Austria, and Algeria . Come on now! England is the 1st good team they’ve had to play. England had to play Mexico at Azteca, and Norway. Spain had to play Portugal, Belgium, and France, back to back to back. There’s no comparison. Favoritism or wild coincidence? Inquiring minds want to know.
Spain. Argentina.The #FIFAWorldCup Final. pic.twitter.com/mfcSIkYplu— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2026 GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! GO USA!!! VAI BRASIL!!! -G
Start spreading the news...The #FIFAWorldCup Final is coming to New York New Jersey 🗽 pic.twitter.com/omaAeuvLQI— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 16, 2026 GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! GO USA!!! VAI BRASIL!!! -G
I've gotten a kick out of reading the ref board threads for each game. There was some criticism early on that he wasn't doing enough to keep the game in check, and maybe he didn't have what it took to manage a team like Argentina, but that sentiment seemed to turn around as the game continued. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/match-102-sf-eng-arg-elfath-usa.2139516/ This blog also seems to be a referee favorite: https://law5-theref.blogspot.com/2026/07/2026-fifa-world-cup-match-102-england.html To me, he seemed fine, he didn't call a lot but that's been the theme of this WC. Definitely could have handed out more cautions but I don't think FIFA wanted that, certainly not in this game.