Defending champions Argentina are heading back to the World Cup final after a 2-1 victory over England on Wednesday in Atlanta.
La Albiceleste will face Spain in Sunday’s final and are seeking their fourth title, having also lifted the trophy in 1978 and 1986.
England, meanwhile, now have to play France on Saturday in the third-place match and the inquest into their defeat has begun.
Al Jazeera breaks down some of the key deciding factors in how Argentina prevailed over bitter rivals England in the semifinal.
Tuchel’s questionable tactics
England protected leads against Mexico in the last 16 and Norway in the quarterfinals by reverting to a back five and shutting up shop. They attempted the same thing against Argentina after taking a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute through Anthony Gordon, but it did not work this time.
England became trapped too early in their half facing relentless Argentina pressure – the Three Lions only had 12 percent possession between scoring against Argentina and conceding the winner in stoppage time.
At one point, there were six defenders on the pitch for England, and every player was typically behind the ball, so they lacked an outlet to relieve the pressure.
While England defended heroically at times, with a world-class save by Jordan Pickford from Nicolas Gonzalez, they were riding their luck well before the equaliser as Alexis Mac Allister hit each post, and it felt inevitable that Argentina would score eventually, which they duly did in the 85th and 92nd minutes.