Donald Trump trolls Thomas Tuchel over Harry Kane’s winner in England semi-final loss

US President Donald Trump joined growing criticism of Thomas Tuchel’s tactics during England’s semi-final loss to Argentina, trolling the German for his call to use striker Harry Kane in a defensive role in the second half of the match. The Three Lions took the lead in the 55th minute through Anthony Gordon but opted to be more defensive and switched to a back five.

This meant that Kane was used more as a defender as Argentina started to attack more. Tuchel’s tactics backfired as Lionel Messi inspired a late comeback for the defending world champions and to advance to the final against Spain on Sunday, July 19, they won 2:1.

Tuchel has been criticized by former players and fans for his defensive tactics and now Trump has blasted him for calling the German. The US president said it was a mistake to let Kane play in defence.

Trump said he didn’t know anything about football coaching, but felt it was unusual to see Kane on defense, someone he had played golf with about 18 months earlier.

“You’ve got a great player in England who I played golf with – you know that, don’t you? Harry, who was fantastic. I think maybe they made a mistake by making him a defensive player.”

“What do I know about football? They took the lead, took their best player and put him on defense.”

“We have to be a little bit offensive, right? But no, I’m not going to call it that. What do I know about coaching? It was unusual, but Harry is actually a great guy,” Trump said at a FIFA reception, as quoted by ESPN.

TUCHEL DOESN’T REGRET LOSING ARGENTINA

Immediately after the loss to Argentina, Tuchel said he did not regret his decision to become more defensive in the second half in the semi-final and felt that England had played their best football of the tournament.

“We played one of our better games, maybe our best game under the circumstances. The team was top, we couldn’t get over the line, but we have no regrets,” said Tuchel.

The German received support from the English FA and is expected to see out his contract until the end of Euro 2028.

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Published on:

18 Jul 2026 07:48 IST