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Former England manager Gareth Southgate will be at the World Cup final in New Jersey this weekend, despite the Three Lions failing to make it there.
England fans are still recovering from the gut-wrenching defeat by Argentina on Thursday, which saw Thomas Tuchel’s side take the lead before collapsing and ultimately losing 2-1.
They had hoped to book their spot in the final two on Sunday evening, but Thursday’s result means they will instead have to settle for a third-place play-off against France a day before.
Still, while the team head home, former England boss Southgate, who led the side from 2016 until his resignation in 2024, will be in attendance at the MetLife Stadium.
According to the Telegraph, Southgate, 55, has had a trip to the game planned for a number of weeks, and will speak at a private gathering just before the match.
He would have also been at the game had England won their match against Argentina to set up a final with Spain.
Former England manager Gareth Southgate (left) will be at the World Cup final on Sunday despite the Three Lions failing to get there
Thomas Tuchel failed to take England past Argentina as they lost in the semi-finals this week
It is understood that Southgate has given a number of public talks since stepping down from England duty two years ago, and has been in high demand to do so. He was also contacted about possible punditry at the World Cup, but turned down offers in order to ‘stay out the way’.
He did, however, post a video to social media wishing the team good luck for the tournament.
What Southgate, who himself took England to a World Cup semi-final and two European Championship finals, has never done is address the criticisms aimed at his England side by current boss Tuchel, who claimed England were ‘more scared to get knocked out’ a tournament than ‘go and win it,’ and that Southgate left the team with no identity.
England will have to watch the final from afar after playing against France – a game Tuchel has said no one wants to play.
‘None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match,’ the German said. ‘They want to play the final. We gave everything to achieve that.
Everyone plays to win the World Cup, but that’s how it is. We have one less day of recovery than France, but we will do it with professionalism.’
Tuchel also tore into his side after the Argentina loss, claiming it is a national problem rather than one of his own.
‘In this moment my feeling was no structure in the world could have helped us,’ Tuchel said. ‘Because actually we were too passive and we were not physical enough, we didn’t stop runners arriving in our box and the deliveries were wrong too.
‘I haven’t seen the data yet, but I think just right after the goal the momentum swings completely and ball possession drops dramatically. We couldn’t find any duels anymore; that’s why we dropped deeper and deeper. It was never the plan, but it happened.’
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