U.S. President Donald Trump joked on Friday that England may have made a mistake by turning captain Harry Kane into “a defensive player” during their World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina.
Speaking at a FIFA reception in New York, Trump said Kane, whom he said he had played golf in early 2025, was “fantastic” before questioning Thomas Tuchel’s late tactical approach.
“What do I know about soccer?” Trump said, adding that England “took their best player, and they put him on defence.”
England lost 2-1 after taking a second-half lead, with Tuchel criticised for defensive substitutions as Argentina advanced to the final against Spain.
England manager Tuchel said on Friday (July 17) that he had no regrets over the decisions he made in the second half.
Tuchel has been widely berated for his defensive substitutions and tactics as Argentina laid siege to England’s penalty area before scoring two late goals to go through to Sunday’s final against Spain.
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England face France in Miami on Saturday in a clash to decide who finishes third in the tournament, but Tuchel’s pre-match press conference was dominated by questions about the semi-final.
“If you are asking if I regret my decisions, if this is the question, then I say no. I don’t regret my decisions because I felt that we became too passive,” he told reporters on Friday.
Tuchel conceded that England’s last-16 victory over Mexico at altitude, the extra-time win over Norway in the quarter-finals in stifling Miami heat, plus all the traveling the squad had done had possibly caught up with them.
He said that to look at his substitutions strictly in terms of offense and defense was simplistic and that in his view the game was more complex than that.
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“No one knows the outcome of any other substitution of any other changes,” he said. “If drama is needed and if the blame game needs to be played, okay, you can do that. But I have the right to not engage in that.”
Asked about one comment that his substitutions were “cowardice,” Tuchel refused to engage.
“I don’t read praise and I don’t believe in comments like this,” he said. “If we win the game tomorrow, we have the best results of a World Cup in 60 years. That’s the perspective to it.”
England won the World Cup in 1966 but have lost both previous third-place playoff matches after semi-final losses in 1990 and 2018.
Tuchel said he would be making changes for Saturday’s game against France, which he viewed as an opportunity for England to show they had closed the gap on the world’s best teams.
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