​England’s dream of becoming world champion for the first time since 1966 is over after a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinals on Wednesday, July 15 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.Thomas Tuchel made three changes to the lineup that defeated Norway in extra time. Morgan Rogers took the spot of Noni Madueke on the right flank, while Djed Spence and Reece James came in at full back for Ezri Konsa and Nico O’Reilly.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe first half was an intense and physical one with more stoppages and fouls than actual action.Buy World Cup final tickets!England would break the deadlock just 10 minutes into the second half when Anthony Gordon latched onto a cross from Rogers and finished past Emiliano Martinez. The Three Lions sat on the lead for the majority of the second half, but couldn’t hold it as Enzo Fernandez tied the match in the 85th minute.Just seven minutes later, Lautaro Martinez nodded in a Lionel Messi cross to complete the comeback and send England to the third-place match.Let’s take a look at how the England players performed in the loss:1 / 9Argentina’s forward #10 Lionel Messi (R) shoots the ball past Argentina’s midfielder #24 Enzo Fernandez during warm up ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament semi-final match between England and Argentina at the Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta on July 15, 2026.(PAUL ELLIS, AFP via Getty Images)Without Pickford’s second half heroics, this wouldn’t have been a dramatic comeback, it would’ve been a blowout. He had at least two world-class saves that gave his side a chance to win.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDid a great job of keeping Julián Alvarez quiet during his time on the field.It was a solid match for him, but ultimately he’ll only be remembered for giving Lautaro Martinez too much space on the winning goal.Tuchel’s shift to parking the bus way too early will overshadow his exemplary performance. He was a mountain in the middle until Messi and company finally found a way to scale.It was a heroic effort for 85 minutes as he did a fantastic job against Messi. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as the best player ever found a way to impact the match. Despite the bitter result, he’ll always have the highlight of chasing down Giuliano Simeone with a sensational tackle to save a possible goal.In such a tight affair, Rice held the midfield down well and helped clog the middle of the park and forced Argentina to attack from wide areas.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSomeone has to take the blame for Enzo Fernandez having a free shot from the top of the box while defending the lead. Anderson was everywhere all day, except in that spot when his team needed him most. It’s a brutal end for him after a brilliant showing in the tournament.He enjoyed more of the attacking balance as most of the play seemed to go down England’s right side. His cross on the goal was a thing of beauty.England’s best player stepped up all tournamen