Tuchel Faces Fan Backlash Over Starting Lineup Ahead of England vs. France World Cup Match
The small final — the World Cup third-place match between France and England — had not even kicked off yet when Three Lions fans expressed their frustrations with coach Thomas Tuchel once again. The German, already under significant scrutiny since the team’s elimination against Argentina, made yet another controversial decision after his tactical reshuffle in the semifinal, leaving fans bewildered.
Before the match, he referred to the “bronze final” as a clash that “none of my players and none of the French players want to play” — a sentiment now backed by his actions: Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham are both on the bench for the highly anticipated showdown against France. Tuchel has opted to rest his two superstars and other regular starters, including goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
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Despite the match not being the final that fans wanted, the decision has sparked outrage. Many took to ‘x’ to voice their disbelief at seeing Bellingham and Kane sidelined, especially since both are still contenders for the World Cup Golden Boot with six goals each. Some fans reacted with humorous memes as well.
Although Tuchel may not be monitoring social media, he likely noticed the chorus of boos directed at him from fans before kickoff when his image appeared on the big screen.
In an unexpected turn of events, England jumped to a 1–0 lead just two minutes into the game and extended it to 4–0 by halftime. The team dominated the match against France, which may soon overshadow the controversy surrounding Tuchel’s lineup choices, even though superstar Kylian Mbappé managed to score for France shortly after the restart to bring the score to 1–4.
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What do you think — can you understand the fans’ reaction? Or do you understand Tuchel wanting to rest his stars in this supposedly less important match? Feel free to write it in the comments!
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.