The World Cup is set to be completed this Sunday (19 July) when Argentina take on Spain. The semi-final matches were mixed. Spain dominated the French and went through via a 2-0 scoreline.
The other semi-final was a whole different cattle of fish. It was a tight contest until the 55th minute when Anthony Gordon scored for England. After that, while England defended for their lives; Argentina were pushing on. Their efforts were rewarded in the 85th minute when Enzo Fernandez scored. About 7 minutes later, English hearts were broken when Lautaro Martinez scored the winner.
The result has sent the English into meltdown. They've been calling for Thomas Tuchel's head.
Thomas Tuchel was England's gambler. A squad few others would've picked. A backs-to-the-wall win over Mexico. Starting Morgan Rogers based on "a feeling from the coach".
Ultimately, one wager has seemingly cost England a place in a World Cup final.
The stage was set to write history. The first draft was being written when Anthony Gordon scored from Rogers' cross - vindicating the latest of Tuchel's gut instincts.
In seven late minutes, everything fell apart. In reality, the hinge was a substitution in the 71st minute. Ezri Konsa's introduction and England's withdrawal to a back five for more than 20 minutes against the reigning World Cup champions is easy to criticise in hindsight but felt just as questionable the moment Gordon's number was up.
England have now scored first in seven of the 13 knock-out games they have lost in the last 30 years. England are the only team this century to have taken the lead in a World Cup semi-final without making the final - and they've now done it twice.
So, there was an all-too depressing familiarity as they saw just 17% of the ball and had nine touches in the Argentinan half in the quarter-of-an-hour after Gordon's goal; inspiring Tuchel to introduce Konsa.
The freeze had begun to set in but aside from Nico Gonzalez's header; Argentina still hadn't forced Jordan Pickford into a meaningful save.
Not only did Konsa's 72nd-minute introduction and switch to a back five compound England's defensive anxiousness; it robbed them of their most direct out ball by removing Gordon.
Rogers, now theoretically playing behind Harry Kane alongside Jude Bellingham, managed only a solitary touch between the change in shape and Martinez's winner.
In those 21 minutes, the Three Lions' possession dropped to 7.2%. They registered eight touches in the opposition half and failed to deliver a single cross.
Presumably, Tuchel's intention was to use Djed Spence and Reece James as bombing wing-backs in the 3-4-3 he has favoured for much of his career. As it transpired, James and Spence touched the ball just once in the Argentina half between them in the rest of the game.
Without more bodies up the pitch, England handed the ball to a team with the best player of all time itching to get on it.
Wave after wave of Argentina attacks followed Konsa's arrival as England struggled desperately to keep the ball. Even without it, Konsa didn't win possession back for his side at all - but did lose it five times.
Tuchel has previously realised when his changes haven't delivered and had the bravery to switch things around. Here, the head coach appeared as frozen as his players, bringing on Dan Burn and Nico O'Reilly instead of ripping up the script to introduce some of the attacking alternatives when it was clear the tide wasn't turning.
Perhaps Tuchel had been emboldened by the way England secured victory with 10 men against Mexico. That would be naive against incomparable opponents.
Mexico had made their intentions clear that they would aim cross after cross into the box. A team built on passing football with Messi primed to strike were never going to play that way. Strike he did, turning provider for both of Argentina's goals.
Tuchel was employed to take things to the next level. Under Gareth Southgate, England beat the teams they were meant to beat and came unstuck when they were underdogs. In that regard, nothing has changed.
Former Liverpool and England star, Michael Owen, says there should be no foreign coaches in international football; following the Three Lions' World Cup exit to Argentina.
England boss Thomas Tuchel has faced mounting criticism for his tactical decisions in the wake of the defeat. England's elimination meant that, yet again, no country has lifted the sport's most coveted prize with a manager who isn't from that country.
Reacting to a post highlighting that World Cup-winning bosses have always been native to their countries, Owen responded: "There should be no such thing as foreign coaches in international football."
Regardless of his nationality, Tuchel could see his position come under scrutiny following England's cautious strategy against Argentina.
Owen's former team-mate, Robbie Fowler, seemed to cast doubt on Tuchel's suitability for the role.
"A great coach/manager isn't someone who relies on the bravery of defenders throwing themselves in front of shots/crosses or the luck of hanging on with X amount of defenders on the pitch," he stated.
However, for now, Tuchel, who is contracted until after Euro 2028, maintains the backing of the FA and chief executive, Mark Bullingham. Similarly, the England manager has no plans to resign.
"First of all, the World Cup is not over," Tuchel responded when questioned about his future. "There is still a match to play, that we are not looking forward to so much to but there is still a match to play."
"Of course then we keep on going. I have a contract until the home Euros and I'm looking forward to that even like now it is difficult to look that far ahead."
Tuchel only sent on forwards Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney deep into stoppage time; while defenders, Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O'Reilly were introduced after England took the lead.
"We have crumbled," former England captain, Wayne Rooney, told BBC Sport. "It started from the manager and the decisions he made. It was too passive. Against this team, the world champions, you will not get away with it. This has been the biggest test and we have failed it."
England looked to have taken full control of the semi-final against their old foes when Gordon put them ahead. England's fans celebrated wildly - but then their team opted to sit back and defend.
"That was a coaching catastrophe from Thomas Tuchel," Chris Sutton, a Premier League winner with Blackburn in 1994-95, told BBC Radio 5 Live."You can't expect to defend for 30 minutes against the quality Argentina had."
"It's all on the coach. He made the changes. He was negative, so the question which I'm going to ask is how can you trust Thomas Tuchel to take this team forward?"
England, however, have no-one but themselves to blame for Wednesday's loss.England, however, have no-one but themselves to blame for Wednesday's loss.
"Norway and Mexico panicked against England," former England goalkeeper, Joe Hart, told BBC Sport.
"I didn't see one bit of panic from that Argentina side. I saw belief, I saw them realising they could free up the great man Lionel Messi in the pocket, and they were running all over England."
"Gareth Southgate took a lot of criticism for the big moments with England, when they had the lead in big games and shut up shop. I don't see that anything has changed in that big moment out there."
"I felt the changes we made at 1-0, that if Argentina scored we wouldn't make extra time," said Rooney.
Former England defender, Micah Richards, told BBC Sport: "When England scored that first goal they should have gone for the second. "Yes, you respect their quality, but dropping deep allowed Argentina to get into their flow."
Even Argentina goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, admitted there was a change in momentum after the opening goal as England sat back and looked to defend.
"Sometimes when you are winning, you have to go forward," said Martinez. "You can't change the gameplan. I think they did it and they sent on extra defenders."
Tuchel has improved on England's showing at the 2022 World Cup, when they reached the quarter-finals before bowing out to France. This England team is sprinkled with exceptional individual talent like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
England captain Kane, who will be approaching his 36th birthday at the next World Cup, suggested his side could've done more.
"When we went 1-0 up we seemed to try and hold on, which at this level is not enough," he said. "[I am] just gutted because we've worked so hard to be here and the lads have given every last bit of running, blood, sweat, tears."
"We pressed them well. We put them under loads of pressure high up the pitch, which then allowed us to win balls and control the game a bit better. After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave. The lads were putting blocks in but, in the end, it just wasn't enough."
Rooney added: "If you're an attacking player on that pitch and you see the changes the manager is making, you lose your belief in it. You start thinking 'oh no, we're going to sit back for this long? How are we going to get through this?'"
Asked if he made wrong decisions against Argentina, Tuchel said he had "no regrets" and his changes were a reaction to England becoming "too passive".
"We decided to go to a back five to close the gaps," Tuchel said. "Straight after our goal, with no substitutions, we just conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances, so we tried to help. The responsibility is on the coach. When it doesn't go well, it's easy to say it was wrong. We were very close today. It's not the moment to analyse the full tournament."
Despite reaching the semi-finals, Tuchel's tactics and choices will be criticised for days to come after failing to make the final, despite taking the lead.
"Tonight, on the biggest stage, he got it wrong, and he has to accept that," said Richards.
Bellingham released a statement following England's elimination, stating: "It is heartbreaking to be so close. The players and Thomas gave it everything today and the squad, coaches and staff could not have worked harder during the tournament."
"I would like to thank them all – and also give my heartfelt thanks to our wonderful fans here in the USA and at home. We felt your support every step of the way and we are all so disappointed not to go further."
In time it may be easier to reflect how that rousing half-time team-talk against Croatia, plus a number of bold attacking changes and one particularly well-timed defensive intervention in the Azteca; raised hopes that Tuchel's in-game management would prove the missing piece of the puzzle that Southgate sadly lacked.
It may still prove to be at Euro 2028, after Tuchel vowed to see out his two-year contract extension.
Until then, it is a painful irony that it is precisely one throw of the dice too far and a reversion to the defence-first football Tuchel had promised to eradicate which will instead now haunt him, and England, for the next two years.
I don't really fully understand why they are reacting in such a hostile manner. The English can't always have the expectation of winning everything. I haven't seen any other manager get that kind of treatment.
This is a knee jerk reaction. I'm sure the English will move on in a few days. They can't hold onto this attitude forever.