ARGENTINA turned to the dark arts to knock England out of the World Cup in a heated encounter.

The Three Lions suffered a heartbreaking elimination from the semi-finals following a 2-1 loss to their bitter rivals at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Thomas Tuchel’s side opened the scoring on 55 minutes through Anthony Gordon but surrendered their lead in the closing minutes of the match with late goals by Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez.

Tuchel carries the majority of the blame after England sat back following Gordon’s opener.

The German tactician made a series of defensive substitutions as he brought on the likes of Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly and Dan Burn while hooking Gordon and Declan Rice.

But Argentina also played their part, using multiple shady tactics to get under England stars’ skin – as noted by The Telegraph.

And they were all in front of referee Ismail Elfath, who has been quite the lucky charm for Argentina captain Lionel Messi who has never lost a match officiated by the American.

SunSport breaks down all of the reigning world champions’ dirty tactics – from late tackles to challenges off the ball…

• 1min

Liverpool star Alexis Mac Allister takes down record Manchester City signing Elliot Anderson just 19 seconds into the match.

• 2min

Leandro Parades pushes Jude Bellingham in the back and the Real Madrid superstar doesn’t take kindly, which leads players from both sides to get between them.

• 3min

Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez takes down Anderson with a late challenge.

• 6min

Anderson is at the receiving end again as Giuliano Simeone kicks the back of the ex-Nottingham Forest star’s foot.

• 11min

Fernandez escapes punishment for yet another foul on Anderson and the pair wrestle on the ground as they try to get up.

• 13min

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford attempts to get the ball off of Simeone after he was caught offside but the Atletico Madrid ace flicks his foot out at him.

• 15min

Paredes wins an impressive tackle against Bellingham and gives him an earful as he stays down.

• 16min

Anthony Gordon breaks away but is brought down by Simeone, who then gives the Barcelona signing a patronising tap on the head.

• 24min

Simeone is warned by the referee not to block Pickford during a corner-kick, but the Argentina star does it anyway.

• 28min

Mac Allister comes with a late challenge on Chelsea star Reece James and no foul is awarded.

• 31min

Fernandez fouls Bellingham, who just escaped a rough challenge from Simeone.

• 33min

Manchester City star Marc Guehi wrestles Simeone for the ball with the latter leading with his head trying to foul the centre-back.

• 34min

Nahuel Molina charges into the back of Bellingham.

• 36min

Lionel Messi has a kick out at Tottenham ace Djed Spence after Anderson clatters into him.

That leads to the first yellow card of the match and it surprisingly goes to Man City’s new star despite everything that preceded.

• 37min

A huge argument breaks and England captain Harry Kane covers his mouth to speak to the referee after Anderson’s yellow card.

That leads to Mac Allister and Paredes pleading for Kane to be sent off, but a player can’t be dismissed for covering their mouth while speaking to the referee.

Instead it can only happen when they are speaking confrontationally to an opponent.

• 41min

Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers gets on a counter-attack and Manchester United ace Lisandro Martinez pulls him back.

That is when an Argentina star finally gets booked by referee Elfath.

• 45+1min

James attempts to take a quick throw-in but someone from the Argentina bench chucks another ball on the pitch to slow him down.

• 45+2min

Paredes lands a high boot on Anderson just before half-time.

• Half-Time

Messi and Fernandez surround the referee to complain and the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner continues as they pair make their way down the tunnel.

• 48min

Bellingham clashes with Messi and as they roll off the pitch, the Argentina captain throws the England star off him and into the advertising board.

• 51min

Tottenham’s Cristian Romero is booked for bringing Bellingham down with both arms during a counter-attack.

• 53min

Simeone swings his hand and connects with Spence’s face but he doesn’t get booked.

Reminding that the Tottenham ace entered the World Cup with a chin injury that initially required him to wear a face cover.

• 58min

Pickford attempts to collect the ball but Romero’s stance leads to the England goalkeeper tumbling over him.

• 73min

Messi nudges Spence during an England throw-in.

• 85min

Romero screams in the face of Pickford after Fernandez’s equaliser.

• 88min

John Stones suffers a head injury and that causes a break in play, which leads to Argentina stars swarming the referee to complain.

• 90+2min

Gabriel Montiel gives Bellingham a mouthful as he attempts to carry England up the pitch and the ball goes out for a throw-in.

• 90+7min

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez catches the ball after Lautaro Martinez scores Argentina’s second and goes down to waste time with a smirk on his face.

• Full time

Argentina’s celebrations anger some England players as Crystal Palace ace Dean Henderson shoves Lautaro, Rogers gets entangled with a group of players and Bellingham slaps the back of Valentín Barco’s head.

• After the game

Argentina’s players celebrate provocatively with a banner that was given to them by fans, proclaiming in Spanish that “The Falklands are Argentinean”, which is a political statement and should lead to a punishment by Fifa.