Tuchel faces striker crisis and tactical questions after England's World Cup exit

England walked out of the World Cup in the worst possible way—not with a bang, but with a whimper. They led Argentina in the semi-final, then folded in the final minutes, losing 2-1 and watching their tournament end when it should have been just beginning. Thomas Tuchel, the manager the Football Association hired to bring tactical sophistication and end the era of perceived naivety, presided over something arguably worse than either. It was not a glorious failure. It felt like surrender.

The immediate problem is obvious: England has no credible alternative to Harry Kane. The Bayern Munich captain, who turns 33 next week, scored six goals in Qatar and was in the form of his life last season with 61 goals across all competitions. But time is running out. Kane himself said after the Argentina loss that it was "too early" to discuss playing in 2030. He will almost certainly be around for Euro 2028 on home soil—lifting a trophy there could be the capstone to his international career. The trouble is that Tuchel brought two other central strikers to the tournament, Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney, and barely used them. Watkins, who led the Premier League in goals among English strikers with 16 last season, played six minutes. Toney got stoppage time against Argentina. Phil Foden was tried as a false nine earlier in the campaign and underperformed so badly he did not make the squad. The message was clear: Kane or nothing. As he approaches 35, that is a dangerous bet.

Looking further down the roster, the picture grows bleaker. Dominic Solanke and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are the only other strikers Tuchel has used in the past year, and both are approaching 30. Watkins and Calvert-Lewin hit double figures in the Premier League last season, along with 35-year-old Danny Welbeck. Eddie Nketiah, once touted as the next prolific talent, has managed just five Premier League goals in two seasons at Crystal Palace. Liam Delap, still only 23, scored 12 for Ipswich and may yet develop into something at Chelsea, but he is untested at the highest level. The pipeline has dried up. Tuchel may decide this is a problem for the next manager, but it is a problem nonetheless.

Then there is the mystery of Kobbie Mainoo. The Manchester United midfielder was the only outfield player in the original 26-man squad not to take a single minute on the pitch. Tuchel had no shortage of midfield options and made changes when necessary, but when he needed a substitute in the deep-lying role, he chose Reece James or Nico O'Reilly instead. The question is unavoidable: if Tuchel did not trust Mainoo enough to use him, why was he there at all? Mainoo is only 21 and has time to develop, as do other young options like Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace and Alex Scott of Bournemouth. But Tuchel needs to find someone he believes in for rotation, or he will be using defenders as emergency midfielders again when Euro 2028 qualifying begins.

The tactical collapse against Argentina, though, is what will haunt Tuchel most. After taking the lead, England's possession dropped to 12 percent. For 18 minutes and 37 seconds, the team completed just three passes—all between goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and centre-back John Stones. Five other passes were attempted and failed. It was not just a defensive retreat; it was a paralysis. Guehi, the centre-back, told the BBC that the mentality seemed to shift the moment England scored: "It kind of felt like we scored and the mentality was, go back, defend." This is the opposite of what Tuchel had preached. After England's dominant second-half performance against Croatia in the group stage, he had told the players, "Even if we lose, let's do it our way." Against Argentina, they did not do it their way. They did the opposite.

Tuchel's contract was extended in February, just before the Nations League draw, with the FA's reasoning straightforward: secure an elite coach for the home Euros, prevent speculation, and avoid the tactical mistakes of his predecessor Gareth Southgate. He had qualified for the World Cup with a perfect record—eight games, eight wins, no goals conceded—though that group included Andorra, Albania, Latvia, and Serbia. The only test came in a friendly against Senegal, which England lost. Now, with Euro 2028 qualifying looming and a Nations League match against Spain at Wembley on September 26, Tuchel faces questions he cannot dodge. He has the backing of the FA, but he may have lost the supporters. The tactical acumen the federation hired him to provide failed when it mattered most. And while he can be held accountable for his setup and substitutions, he cannot be held solely responsible for players who could not complete a pass or make an impact as Argentina's attacks mounted. That failure belongs to everyone on the pitch.