FIFA World Cup 2026: England Tournament Thread [R]

So that is four semi finals in the five last tournaments. Compare that to no semi finals between 1996 and 2018. Southgate was not perfect, but he did something that no England manager has done in 50 years, transforming 11 individuals into a team. And Tuchel is building on that.

 

It should have happened against Argentina

 

I don't know if we're the most hated country in the world to be fair. I'd guess more people are hostile to the USA and Israel. We've actually gained fans in this world cup by winning the Mexicans over. In football terms Argentina are well hated. I guess that so many of their fans thinks like the tweet below doesn't help their case.

🇦🇷 Única selección en semifinales sin africanos ni musulmanes.

100% argentinos, por eso nos odian tanto. pic.twitter.com/rTHv6UeLdZ

— Mati Smith🇦🇷 (@Trumperizar) July 12, 2026

 

I just hope no more Konsa/Quansah/any central defender at right back.... Also I´d be tempted to start Spence at left back against Argentina as pacey players who run in-behind have relly hurt Argentina´s defenders so far and that´s not something O´Reilly offers in this position

 

Slightly racist, why am I not surprised!

 

How many indigenous players do Argentina have? They don't come across as loaded with Mapuche or Guarani.

 

I mean you see these kinds of tweets from every country in the World Cup to be fair.

 

I think he's one of these 'old school' guys that you'd have to rugby tackle him to stop him going on.

 

LOL. Think about it. Three weeks ago there was a discussion about who should be Englands number 10. Bellingham or Rogers. LOL.

 

Southgate was getting hammered for our ultra-defensive approach. Our xG for all the groups in the entire group stage (against Denmark, Serbia and Slovenia) was 2.29, which is lower than we got in 1 half against Croatia in the first game. Then in every knockout game our xG was lower than our opponents and we finally were exposed in the final. Southgate got us to the final so good job with that, but there was a good and a very obvious reason to hammer him throughout the tournament.

Tuchel had a questionable approach for squad selection but in terms of our in-game strategy there's significantly fewer questions for him than to Southgate in 2024.

 

The last time #England played #Argentina was 21 years ago in Geneva. In one of the craziest international matches ever played, the South Americans were leading 2-1 until the 87th minute when @themichaelowen did this. #ENGARG https://t.co/4GTy0n5V32 pic.twitter.com/MAXgHEx9wN

— Asif Burhan (@AsifBurhan) July 12, 2026

 

Craig Hope from The Mail was arguing that Bellingham shouldn't even be in the squad.

 

Alfie Haaland is a bad loser. Ignore him.

 

I think "significantly" is a huge stretch. We've been better on the whole than in 2024 but that should not be the bar. The fact there are even parallels to draw from that tournament - and there very much are - is a huge mark on Tuchel given what was expected.

We had two shots on target and recorded 0.27xG in 90 minutes yesterday. The way we performed and the way that game played was every bit comparable to a lot of what we saw in 2024. Shoddy team performance bailed out by individual quality.

If you take every knockout stage performance from both tournaments the best showing at this stage would still be the Netherlands semi-final under Southgate. There's time to change that but that's the reality at this point.

I also don't think we've seen Tuchel's selection decisions play out yet. You can argue that with Rice's physical condition and the total lack of good options in the middle, his negligent midfield picks are very much coming home to roost.

 

Similar to 1990. Look a bit dodgy for the whole tournament, play Germany and be the better side, lose to Germany on penalties and then Germany win the tournament.

 

Our kids think England just do this don't they.

First four tournaments I remember vs first four tournaments my son remembers: pic.twitter.com/LvbB1pkCWJ

— Jonny Blain (@jonoblain) July 12, 2026

Funnily enough, I was actually explaining this to my 10 year old son after the game finished yesterday. Don’t know how lucky they are compared to what we older chaps have gone through…..

 

Jugen Klinsmann just said:
“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the English always win.”

England is the new Germany, Germany is the new England. Lothar Matteus complained about WAGS and players treating the world cup as a family holiday. He could have put it simply and said we (Germany) are 2006 England.

 

Turns out we're playing Gianni Infantino in Semi Final

 

we have played Altitude, Miami Heat and next up is Infantio/Ref/VAR. That is what the WC has come to be.