Argentina Are Through to Face Spain in the Final - England Choke When It Matters Most
There's no dressing this up. England were 85 minutes away from history and folded exactly when it counted. Argentina won 2-1. Enzo Fernández headed in the equalizer in the 85th minute, then Lautaro Martínez scored the winner in stoppage time. Both goals came from Messi crosses, still the sharpest mind on the pitch at 39, still dictating games with a pass instead of a sprint. That's not fortune. That's mastery.
England's collapse wasn't circumstance, it was a decision Tuchel made and got wrong. He pulled Declan Rice at halftime against Norway because the midfielder couldn't finish 90 minutes. Days later, in the biggest match of these players' lives, he started him anyway and watched the midfield disintegrate late on. Bellingham disappeared.
Argentina didn't need to be spectacular. They needed England to blink, and England obliged, the way they always do when the moment finally arrives.
Sunday's final at MetLife Stadium is now set: reigning champions Argentina against a Spain side that dismantled France 2-0 without breaking a sweat. England fly home carrying the same unfinished story they've carried since 1966.
