England's World Cup Collapse Against Argentina: Lineker's Critique

Gary Lineker slammed England’s game plan against Lionel Messi and Argentina as “unfathomable” after Thomas Tuchel’s side surrendered a 1-0 lead and crashed out of the World Cup in Atlanta.

England were 15 minutes from a first World Cup final since 1966. Instead, they were picked apart by the one player you simply cannot invite onto the ball.

A lead thrown away

Anthony Gordon’s first-half strike had tilted a tense semi-final England’s way, a sharp finish that briefly silenced a partisan crowd and seemed to vindicate Tuchel’s bold selection calls. From there, the stage was set: protect the lead, manage the game, lean on the structure that had carried them this far.

Tuchel chose to retreat.

He turned to his bench and loaded the pitch with defenders, introducing three across the second half. The message was clear: dig in, sit deep, see it out. The effect was just as clear: Argentina stepped up, England stepped back, and Messi stepped into the spaces he loves most.

The warning signs came quickly. Argentina twice rattled the woodwork as England’s back line sank closer and closer to their own box, inviting pressure, inviting crosses, inviting trouble.

The pressure finally told. Enzo Fernandez, given time and room 25 yards out, lashed in the equaliser, a strike that felt inevitable given the pattern of the half.

Still, England did not step out. Still, Messi roamed.

“Just put someone on him”

Watching on, Gary Lineker could not believe what he was seeing.

“I found it absolutely unfathomable that, if your tactic is to sit everyone deep, you do that against the greatest player ever to play football,” he said on The Rest Is Football, incredulous at how much freedom Messi enjoyed.

Lineker reeled off the numbers that now define the Argentina captain’s World Cup legacy: most goals, most assists, and still dictating the biggest nights. This was another chapter, written on his terms.

“He moves to the right, yeah, and you play a back five, and you still don’t go and get tight to him,” Lineker said. “Just put someone on him. He had so much space. He just whipped ball after ball after ball into the box.”

One of those deliveries finally broke England.

Deep into stoppage time, Messi picked his moment, arcing a pinpoint cross into the area. Lautaro Martinez met it, guided it home, and turned a semi-final on its head. From 1-0 up and in control, England were out, Argentina heading to another World Cup final, this time against Spain on Sunday.

Tuchel under fire

The world champions once again showed their ruthless tournament streak, but the sense lingers that they were helped by England’s retreat. The substitutions, the deeper line, the absence of any real outlet once Gordon’s goal had gone in — all of it fed Argentina’s surge.

Inside the camp, Tuchel is still believed to have the backing of the Football Association. His contract runs through Euro 2028, and there is no immediate suggestion of a change on the touchline.

Outside, the tone is very different.

Former England defender Micah Richards did not spare the manager in his assessment of the collapse.

“Today he got it wrong,” Richards said. “And he has to accept that. They were too deep. As soon as we scored that goal, we had no outlet.”

No outlet, no pressure on the ball, and, most damaging of all, no real plan for Messi.

In a semi-final defined by one man’s genius, England chose to stand off and watch it unfold. The question now is whether Tuchel’s England can recover from the way this one slipped away, or whether Atlanta becomes the night that haunts everything that follows.