THOMAS TUCHEL’s substitutions came back to haunt him as England crashed to a heartbreaking World Cup semi-final defeat.

England led in the 85th minute before Argentina finally broke their resistance with two late strikes.

The Three Lions were defending for their lives having led through Anthony Gordon’s strike in the 55th minute.

And pundits and fans were left questioning the England manager’s substitutions.

One supporter said: “I really like Tuchel but I’m not sure about these subs though.”

While another posted: “This is on Tuchel. Cowardly subs. Inviting this lot on to you only ends one way.

“Southgate would have been slaughtered for doing that.”

And a third wrote: “Tuchel absolutely finished England with those subs.”

While a fourth commented: “Listen Tommy Tuchel has got us this far, but I am constantly baffled by his subs.”

Gordon was then replaced by Ezri Konsa as Tuchel looked to shut up shop.

It was the first defensive substitution which invited pressure onto England’s penalty area.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was called on a number of times as he made some big saves.

Two more defenders were brought on in the 82nd minute with Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly entering the game.

They replaced Declan Rice and Reece James as England looked to see out the closing stages.

But Enzo Fernandez’s 20-yard strike in the 85th minute dragged the reigning world champions level.

England had six defenders on the pitch and couldn’t find a way to shift the momentum.

And the heartbreak was complete when Lautaro Martinez headed home in the 92nd minute to spark wild Argentina celebrations, breaking English hearts.

Wayne Rooney moaned on BBC: “We got ourselves in such a good position, and then we didn’t know what to do.

“We sat back, we allowed them to come onto us. They were creating a number of chances, then we cracked. Really disappointed.

“These fans have spent a lot of money to be out here. I expected more in this game.

“Argentina are the world champions. We knew it was going to be the difference.

“The changes we made didn’t help us.

“Devastated.

“Sometimes you need a bit of luck to win these tournaments.”

Matt Upson added: “We stopped. We scored the goal and we stopped doing the thing that’s going to win us the game.

“And the moment you do that a team like Argentina feed off that. They smell it.

“It’s instinctive for them and all of a sudden the swing of momentum after the hydration break it was over.”

Alan Shearer tweeted: “Best team won. The changes left us without an out ball. We had six defenders on with 25 mins left. Frustrating.”

And captain Harry Kane admitted: “We struggled to get pressure on the ball.

“Especially first half and start of the second half, we pressed them well, we put them under loads of pressure high up the pitch which then allowed us to win balls and control the game a bit better.

“After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave.

“Lads were putting blocks in but, in the end, it just wasn’t enough.”

Tuchel, though, defended his subs – after they succeeded in previous matches.

He said: “I did offensive substitutions in the last games, we just tried to help the players. We conceded [a chance] straight away and we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open.

“They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air. Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances so we tried to help.

“Of course, the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn’t go well, it is easy to say it was wrong.

“Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I did not have the feeling that offensive substitutions would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, more and more passive.

“We couldn’t win any balls, we couldn’t keep the ball so I think it was not a structural problem, we changed nothing. But the match changed completely.

“It’s no problem, I can understand these discussions are out there and there are millions of coaches after the game who know it better.”