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A lingering sense of déjà vu surrounded England’s defeat as the Three Lions once again fell victim to Argentina’s dramatic late turn in Atlanta.

You can alter the stage, change a few players, but if the storyline never evolves, can you really claim it’s a different tale?

That’s the question England must face after Lionel Messi and defending champions Argentina ruthlessly ended their hopes of World Cup triumph in the semi-final at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Consider England’s history: Euro ’96 — semi-final loss to Germany; France ’98 — eliminated by Argentina in the round of 16; World Cup 2002 — Brazil in the quarter-final; Euro 2004 — Portugal in the quarter-final; Euro 2016 — Iceland in the last 16; Russia 2018 — Croatia in the semi-final; Euro 2020 — Italy in the final; and now this. On every occasion, England took the lead in a knockout game only to end up losing. The takeaway cannot simply be to avoid scoring first; it has to be about managing the lead better. England held a 55th-minute advantage this time, only for it to unravel.

Anthony Gordon’s stunning first-half goal stood until the 85th minute, when Argentina’s seemingly supernatural resilience kicked in. They turned the match around to win 2-1.

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández equalised with five minutes left, and Lautaro Martínez struck the winner two minutes into stoppage time — both goals created by Messi, whose brilliance at 39 continues to defy time.

Now Argentina head to Sunday’s final against Spain, determined to secure Messi’s second World Cup crown — a mission that feels like a moral imperative for this group. The side, packed with Premier League antagonists, simply find ways to prevail.

Before the match, Thomas Tuchel’s staff had instilled in England the mindset of underdogs, just as they had before facing Mexico in the round of 16 at the Estadio Azteca. It was a psychological tactic aimed at easing pressure.

“All the pressure is on them — they’re the world champions,” Marc Guéhi said with a mischievous grin, revealing the deliberate strategy. Tuchel had used similar rhetoric throughout the tournament, refusing to label England as favourites.

But the underdog mentality backfired in Atlanta. The team began believing their own narrative. Between Gordon’s opener and Argentina’s equaliser, England had just 12 per cent possession — disastrously low for a side of their calibre.

It was those crucial, mismanaged minutes that cost England a place in the final.

“When we went 1-0 up, we seemed to try and hold on, which at this level is not enough,” admitted Harry Kane, echoing the truth everyone already knew. The captain, a veteran of five such heartbreaks, still couldn’t deliver the happy ending.

World Cups are too rare to squander through repeated mistakes. Tuchel’s England felt like a rebranded version of Gareth Southgate’s — a software update, not a transformation. In Russia 2018, they were inexperienced and naïve; eight years later, the same flaws resurfaced. Just like the Croatia semi-final, they froze after taking the lead — fearful of the ball, paralysed by the countdown to glory. Argentina, by contrast, played the game before them.

Tuchel’s in-game management came under intense scrutiny. “We smelt blood and we went for it,” said Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni afterwards. England became the prey, Argentina the hunters — a dynamic that perfectly suited the comeback kings. As Argentina’s 2026 World Cup story repeated its familiar rhythm, so did England’s tournament woes.

The FA had appointed Tuchel, a reputed knockout expert, to finally push England over the line. Instead, they endured yet another near miss — another ‘what if’ moment at the sharp end of a major competition. England now face France in Saturday’s third-place play-off — a match no one desires — before turning inward for reflection. Then comes the rebuild. Tuchel will lead England into Euro 2028 on home soil, where the underdog label will no longer apply.

“If it doesn’t end well, it’s easy to say my decisions were wrong,” Tuchel bristled afterwards. But the criticism is fair — he orchestrated another familiar English collapse in real time.

Before his first match as manager, Tuchel had reflected on England’s Euro 2024 campaign under Southgate, saying, “They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament than excited and hungry to win it.” Sixteen months later, his substitutions and tactical choices produced an eerie replay of Southgate’s downfall. Another slow, painful demise — surrendering control and territory by choice.

There were high points, though. Gordon’s semi-final strike was arguably England’s best team goal of the tournament. Kane and Jude Bellingham’s blossoming partnership carried the side into the final week. Several supporting players rose to the occasion. Yet, the dream of ending 60 years of hurt remains unfulfilled.

Tuchel called it one of England’s finest performances of the World Cup — and until his changes, that claim held merit.

Those decades of frustration will stretch to 62 years, but there were positives. England reached their furthest point under a foreign coach, showing promise for the future. Tuchel’s contentious selection of Djed Spence paid off as the tournament progressed. Both Gordon and Elliot Anderson impressed.

Spence even managed to contain Messi for large portions of the semi-final — no small feat.

Bellingham reached a level unseen by an England player since Bobby Charlton in 1966, equalling Pelé’s record of seven World Cup goals by age 23 — a mark surpassed only by Kylian Mbappé. “See you Saturday, Kylian,” the subtext seemed to say.

But while Bellingham’s career is still ascending, Kane’s time is finite. He will be 36 by the next World Cup, and this defeat casts a long shadow. Euro 2028 now carries immense weight — the summer everything must finally come together.

“That,” Tuchel remarked earlier in the week, “is what a World Cup is truly for — to inspire a nation, to make people forget their worries. There’s so much to love about this team, and I’m glad people feel that.”

They felt it because they believed change was finally underway. Yet, in the end, it was the same script — new faces, same heartbreak.