^ ^ Argentina mock England and stage ‘minute’s silence’ in dressing room after World Cup triumph

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Argentina’s squad couldn’t resist poking fun at England following the side’s World Cup semi-final victory over the Three Lions, even staging a ‘minute’s silence’ for Thomas Tuchel’s men in the dressing room.

England had looked on course to reach only a second World Cup final in the nation’s history after Anthony Gordon directed home Morgan Rogers’ cross to open the scoring in the 55th minute.

But England dropped progressively deeper as Argentina pushed for an equaliser, while sending on Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly in an attempt to shut out the defending champions.

Tuchel’s cautious and defensive tactics were duly punished, though, as Enzo Fernandez hammered in an 85th-minute strike, before Lautaro Martinez headed Lionel Messi’s pinpoint cross beyond Jordan Pickford to give the holders the lead at the death.

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Lionel Scaloni’s side held firm for the remaining minutes to come away from Atlanta with a famous 2-1 win, setting up a mouthwatering showdown with Spain in Sunday’s final.

England, meanwhile, will face off against France – runners-up in Qatar four years ago – in the third-place playoff on Saturday.

There were feverous celebrations amongst Argentina’s squad as they soaked up the moment with their adoring supporters, who remained inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium for some time after the final whistle.

Martinez came on a scored the winner for the defending champions (Picture: Getty)

Veteran Argentina defender Otamendi led the ‘minute’s silence’ for England

At one point in the proceedings, Argentina’s jubilant players were pictured holding aloft a banner emblazoned with the words, ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’, translating as, ‘The Falklands are Argentine’ – an act which could face punishment from FIFA.

Later on in the dressing room, former Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi was filmed leading a ‘minute’s silence’ for Argentina’s old rivals, whose painful wait for a major trophy goes on – 60 years on from the side’s triumph in 1966.

‘A minute of silence for England, who is dead,’ the Scaloneta can be heard singing in a 25-second clip which has spread like wildfire across social media.

The video in question then shows the squad breaking into celebration, while chanting: ‘Argentina, a special dedication to England!’

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Wednesday’s encounter was a bad-tempered affair throughout and the ill feeling between the two teams continued beyond the 90 minutes as Jude Bellingham was seen slapping Argentine midfielder Valentin Barco in a melee.

During the contest itself, Tottenham centre-back Cristian Romero took the opportunity to torment Pickford, screaming directly in the goalkeeper’s face, after Fernandez had levelled for Argentina.

‘There was blood in the water, and we went for it. That’s the feeling that I was getting,’ Argentina head coach Scaloni told reporters shortly after the final whistle.

Messi and Co do battle with Spain in this year’s final (Picture: Getty)

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‘You just have to keep going. We hit the crossbar. We hit the post, and it just couldn’t go in.

‘There’s six or seven chances, but I’m very pleased about that, because the team fought to the very end, and I think this is critical.’

Asked how he would describe the performance, Scaloni offered: ‘Epic squared?

‘This group is difficult to explain. It is a show of the collectiveness, the brotherhood that we are in.

‘We fight to the very end with all that we have.’

Tuchel has come under fire for the ultra-defensive approach England adopted after taking the lead, but the German insisted he had ‘no regrets’ about his tactical switch in the aftermath.

Though there are widespread calls for Tuchel to lose his job following the side’s crushing defeat, the Football Association are reportedly planning to keep faith with the former Chelsea, PSG and Bayern Munich manager.

Tuchel put pen to paper on a two-year extension with the Three Lions in February, with his contract running through to Euro 2028.

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^ ^ World Cup: England Out & Tuchel Under Fire

England's World Cup dream is over.

Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith react after England's heartbreaking semi-final defeat to Argentina, reflecting on the emotions after the final whistle, the key moments that decided the game and why they're left frustrated by Thomas Tuchel's decisions.

ESPN's Mark Ogden joins to assess the substitutions, the criticism facing Tuchel and what comes next for England after falling short of the World Cup final.

Plus, CBS' Nico Cantor gives the Argentinian perspective on the victory, as he and Lloyd debate football culture, the so-called 'dark arts' and why Argentina believe doing whatever it takes to win is simply part of the game.

And after five unforgettable weeks in Los Angeles, Rick and Lloyd say goodbye to LA before heading to New York for the final stages of the tournament.

^ ^ Gary Lineker ‘astonished’ by Thomas Tuchel decision: ‘It made zero sense’

Thomas Tuchel is coming under fire after England’s World Cup exit (Picture: Getty Images)

Gary Lineker was left baffled by Thomas Tuchel’s approach late in England’s 2-1 defeat to Argentina, labelling it ‘unfathomable’ and ‘astonishing’.

Argentina are into the World Cup final after two late goals saw them come from behind to down the Three Lions in Atlanta.

Anthony Gordon gave England the lead on 55 minutes, prodding home a Morgan Rogers cross, but it was an unpleasant experience for English fans from there on in.

Argentina rallied and England went into their shell, with Tuchel making very defensive substitutions as he brought on Ezri Konsa for Gordon on 72 minutes, then sent on Nico O’Reilly and Dan Burn for Declan Rice and Reece James 10 minutes later.

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With five at the back, England invited pressure and Argentina were happy to accept that invitation, with Enzo Fernandez equalising on 85 minutes with an effort from 20 yards as he inexplicably was in a huge amount of space.

In injury time Lautaro Martinez headed in the winner from a Lionel Messi cross and England’s misery was complete.

Lineker could not understand why Tuchel backed off so much with 20-plus minutes to play, with no outlet in attack and felt it went entirely against what he promised to do earlier in the tournament.

Lionel Messi provided both assists for Argentina (Picture: Shutterstock)

‘He said after the Croatia game that if we lose we’ll lose our way, by playing aggressive, attacking football. He went totally against that, didn’t he?’ Lineker questioned on The Rest Is Football.

‘You’ve got to believe in yourself. As soon as we went a goal up, they sat deep and the substitutes that he made made that even deeper.

‘He took Gordon off and obviously Konsa on, he turns to a five at the back and he brings Dan Burn on. So we’re going to play a really low block against a team that are very good at playing against a low block because they’ve got Messi.

‘What they don’t offer a threat in is if you play a high line and play up because they’ve got no threat behind. It made zero sense to me. I think tactically it was astonishing, to be perfectly honest.’

Tuchel’s team offered no threat after going ahead (Picture: Getty Images)

The former England striker added: ‘A lot of frustration. I found it absolutely unfathomable that you’ve got as a tactic, you sit everyone deep, playing against the greatest player that’s ever played football – and I think he’s just cementing that game after game after game.

‘He moves to the right, you play in a back five and you still don’t get tight to him. Just put someone on him! He had so much space, he just whipped ball after ball after ball into the box.

‘It was inexplicable to me that they didn’t try and get tight to the one player that can destroy you.’

England lost the initiative after going ahead (Picture: Getty Images)

Assessing the performance, Tuchel felt England were the better team until they went ahead but then the mindset changed.

He took responsibility for the substitutions, but sounded frustrated with how passive his players became in defending.

‘I think we were deservedly up 1-0, I think the momentum changed after that,’ Tuchel told ITV. ‘They had nothing to lose and we suddenly played like we had a lot to lose. They took more and more risks and turned the game around in the last 10 minutes.

‘We didn’t have enough possession, couldn’t escape the pressure anymore and tried everything but couldn’t get hold of the ball. Then it’s like you’re dying a slow death, it started straight away after the goal.

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‘I thought we were the better team until we scored, but the mindset shifted, they took a lot of risk and played with a lot of quality.

‘I take the responsibility for the substitutions. It’s easy to be a coach after the game and tell the story from the result. No one can prove what would have happened with other substitutions.

‘I thought we needed a back five to close the gaps for all the crossing. They played with two wide wingers and two strikers so they had four players in the last line, so it made sense to me to have five players in the last line. but we didn’t stop the second line from coming through the gaps. We were not physical enough in these moments.

‘Anyway, it’s not a matter of structure, you can play in any structure, but we got too passive and got punished for that.’

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^ ^ Alan Shearer warns England about major FIFA change ahead of Argentina World Cup showdown

Alan Shearer has a word of warning for England ahead of tonight’s World Cup semi-final (Picture: BBC Sport)

Alan Shearer fears history could repeat itself when England renew hostilities with Argentina in this evening’s World Cup semi-final.

The defending champions stand between the Three Lions and a place in Sunday’s final against Spain and the former England captain is confident Thomas Tuchel’s men have what it takes to progress.

Confidence and expectation has risen on the back of victories over Mexico and Norway in less than ideal conditions, while Argentina have hinted at signs of vulnerability throughout their campaign.

Aside from the obvious threat of the imperious Lionel Messi, Shearer has urged England to be mindful of tonight’s referee Ismail Elfath, as well as the shift in the way VAR has operated during the knockout stages.

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Shearer, himself, was on the receiving end of some questionable refereeing when the teams last met in a knockout game back in 1998 when David Beckham was infamously given his marching orders for lashing out at Diego Simeone.

England are sure to be on the receiving end of some extreme provocation this evening and Shearer has warned England’s players they must keep their cool in the heat of battle.

He told the BBC: ‘It was an unbelievable night with everything that happened and, while I know I should be over it by now, I still don’t think the best team won.

David Beckham was sent-off for lashing out of Diego Simeone at the 1998 World Cup (Picture: Getty)

Who is the referee for England vs Argentina

All eyes will be on Ismail Elfath (Picture: Getty)

The man tasked with keeping law and order between the two great rivals will be Moroccan-born American Ismail Elfath.

Born in Casablanca, Elfath moved to the US after winning a government ‘diversity lottery ticket’ when he was just 18.

After arriving in America, he studied for a degree in mechanical engineering in Texas while also playing for local USL League Two side Austin Lightning.

Elfath’s move into refereeing was motivated by his dissatisfaction at the standard of officiating, and he eventually became a professional referee in 2011.

Since then, he has established himself as one of the best officials in North America having won the MLS Referee of the Year award in 2020 and 2022.

The 44-year-old, who officiated three games in Qatar, famously sent off Vincent Aboubakar for taking his shirt off after scoring a dramatic winner for Cameroon against Brazil in the group stage.

Elfath is perhaps something of a good omen for Argentina, given he was the fourth official for the World Cup final, which the South Americans won on penalties against France.

There’s potentially further good news for Lionel Messi in particular, who has won all five Inter Miami games that Elfath has taken charge of.

‘What happened to us then should be a warning to England now, because these are the kind of games where tempers can boil over and affect the result.

‘I would not be surprised at all if we saw another red card this time too, but I am slightly concerned where the refereeing will be at, and how VAR might impact us.

‘It feels like there has been a huge shift in the narrative from referees and VAR as the tournament has gone on and there have been some bizarre decisions, including some that have gone Argentina’s way.

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‘The one that ruled out Egypt’s goal against them in the last 16, because of a foul at the other end of the pitch, was just astonishing and I just hope for both teams there is no more controversy in this tie.

‘It will be a red-hot atmosphere, and it will be hard enough for England playing 11 v 11, so cool heads will be imperative.

‘I know how hard it is not to react in the heat of the battle but we cannot afford to do anything rash that might give the referee or VAR the chance to get involved.’

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