Thomas Tuchel: England head coach vows to remain until Euro 2028 despite World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina | Football News

Thomas Tuchel says he will stay on to lead England into Euro 2028 despite their World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.

England were denied a spot in the nation’s first World Cup final since 1966 as Argentina came from behind to beat Tuchel’s side in Atlanta.

Anthony Gordon put England in dreamland before Argentina took control, with Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez breaking English hearts late on.

Tuchel, who was appointed head coach in January 2025, penned an extension on his initial deal earlier this year through to Euro 2028. The tournament will be co-hosted by England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Asked a direct question as to whether he’d be staying on after the World Cup, Tuchel said: “We keep on going with the contract until the home Euros.

“I’m looking forward to that even though right now it’s difficult to look that far ahead.”

England will now remain in the US as they prepare for a third-place play-off match against France in Miami on Saturday. Tuchel added that even though it’s a game they’d rather not be a part of, reaching their second semi-final in eight years was an achievement for England.

“We have to wait for four years (to go again at another World Cup). In itself it’s an achievement, of course it’s a semi-final. A lot of big footballing nations are eliminated before the semi-final. It is an achievement, no one wants to hear that at the moment, me neither, because we demand the most of ourselves because we are so competitive. The nature of being so competitive puts the next game into perspective.

“None of our players or none of the French players want to play in this match. They want to play in the final; we gave everything to be in the final. Everyone plays to win the World Cup, but it is what it is. We have a day less than France to recover but we will do it professionally.

“The thing for us is to bounce back and react. That’s what you have to do at the highest level of sport and that we will do.”

Kane: Holding on was not enough against Argentina

England captain Harry Kane admitted trying to hold on to a 1-0 lead backfired as their World Cup hopes were ended by Argentina’s late show.

“I’m gutted,” Kane said. “Once we went 1-0 up we seemed to just try and hold on which at this level is just not enough, so I’m gutted.

“We worked so hard to be here. The lads have given every last bit of running, sweat, blood, tears, whatever it is, so to fall short like today is just gutting.”

Kane claimed the message from Tuchel and his staff was to keep pushing after Gordon’s goal, but it felt as though England increasingly retreated, inviting the pressure which Argentina turned to their advantage.

“We struggled to get pressure on the ball (after the goal),” he said. “I thought especially in the first half and at the start of the second half we pressed them well, put them under loads of pressure, especially high up the pitch, which allowed us to win balls and control the game a little bit better.

“After the goal, whether they were putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man-to-man, it was just wave after wave. The lads were putting blocks in but in the end it was not enough.

“The boys were always ready for any moment in the game. When we went ahead, the messaging was to go again and get another goal. Once they scored their two goals, it was to try and find something, but we couldn’t find any momentum to get back in the game.”

Kane added: “We’ve had a lot of good moments in this tournament. We’ve had a lot of good games, another semi-final. We talk about knocking on the door. We’re close. We just need to find that missing piece.

“These tournaments take it out of you. There’s so much effort, pressure, mentality. We’ve shown a lot of that in the last six, seven weeks we’ve been together. We’re just missing that final piece.”