With Harry Kane and England losing in the World Cup 2026 semifinals, Bayern Munich will not have a world champion coming home. England opened the scoring with a brilliant counter-attack ignited by Morgan Rogers and finished by Anthony Gordon.
However, two late goals by Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez meant England's wait for a major trophy will be prolonged.
What made this match a hard watch for many England supporters was the fact that head coach Thomas Tuchel immediately stuck 10 men back in defence as soon as Gordon broke the deadlock.
He took out Gordon, Declan Rice and Reece James in favour of tall defenders like Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O'Reilly to defend the box.
These moves backfired for England. The mounting pressure from Argentina brought England to its knees. The equaliser and the go-ahead looked bound to happen when such talented attackers were given half an hour to toy with the defence.
England's last 30 minutes gave terrifying flashback to Bayern Munich fans
Watching the final 30 minutes of the game might give some Bayern Munich fans a horrible flashback of two years ago. On 8 May 2024, Bayern, then under current England coach Thomas Tuchel, faced off against Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals.
Real Madrid, with home-field advantage, was the favourite, especially after a positive result at the Allianz Arena. They were able to apply lots of pressure on Bayern Munich from the get-go, but Bayern soon weathered the storm and turned it into a back-and-forth battle.
Similar to England, Tuchel's Bayern Munich struck first. Off a clinical counter-attack in the 68th minute, Alphonso Davies wrapped the ball into the top corner with his weak foot, putting his team one step closer to the final.
With around 25 minutes left on the clock, Bayern decided to sit back. After a narrow escape from a disallowed goal following a foul on Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Tuchel substituted Leroy Sane for a central defender, Kim Min-jae. He later took both Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala out in favour of a defensive game plan, not even bothering to play any counters.
A minute after that double substitution, Bayern conceded from a long-shot bobbled by Manuel Neuer.
In the stoppage time, an unmarked Joselu stabbed in the heart of any Bayern hopefuls with a close-range finish from a cross, despite Bayern sticking all eleven players in the box.
️⚽️ @JoseluMato9 obrando otra remontada en el Bernabéu 😎#UCL pic.twitter.com/NYOqkvOa8H
— Liga de Campeones (@LigadeCampeones) May 9, 2024
Both goals Bayern conceded against Real were oddly similar to the ones England conceded on Wednesday: a long shot and a cross, despite having three centre-backs on the pitch.
Same scenario, same coach, same outcome. Many may put it on fate, but was it only fate? Was Thomas Tuchel accountable for this cautious approach and breaking the familiar defensive structures?
It is easy to point fingers after such a heart-wrenching defeat. But it is time for Harry Kane and England to look ahead towards the third-place playoff against Michael Olise's and Dayot Upamecano's France.
Best of luck to all Bayern players involved.
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