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Supporters who gathered in pubs, fan parks and homes across the South East said they had hoped this would be the year football finally came home.Sean Lombard, landlord of the Red Lion pub in Rusthall, Kent, turned his jazz bar into a watch party for customers. He said it had been a night of "shouts and screams, happiness and tears", but England were just "unlucky".He said: "It's been a good tournament for England."Matt Richards, who watched the game in Rusthall, said he was proud of the team."I think we went a little bit too defensive, but as a whole, the boys throughout the whole tournament did enough," he said. "It's always sad to go out.""We are knocking at the door," he said. "I think we need that English spirit, that English fight going forward in the next competition, in order to win."At a fan park in Brighton, Elaine Connolly said the atmosphere was "amazing" after England scored first.But after the defeat, she felt the same as "everyone else in the UK, absolutely gutted"."It's been tough, it's a bitter pill to swallow," she said. "We've been here before, we get this far and it just kind of shuts down."Simon Cook and Terry Baker turned up believing England were going to win, but after watching the team defend a 1-0 lead before Argentina went on to score two late goals, they asked: "Why didn't we just attack?"Jamie Power, 19, at the Woking FC fan zone in Surrey, said he was "gutted" by the result.Like so many across the country, he wanted to experience what fans enjoyed when England won the World Cup final at Wembley 60 years ago."As a young teenager, I wanted to live the life of what the 1966 people lived up to. Every year, we've got so close," he said.But he added: "You have to be fair to Argentina, they've played brilliantly. We need to learn from this."Another supporter watching the match at Woking, Ell Guidera, joked that the defeat would stay with him for some time.Laughing, he said: "For the rest of July and August, don't talk to me."He said he expected to recover when the football season started again.Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, external, X, external, and on Instagram, external and listen to BBC Radio Surrey on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk , externalor WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.Why England's loss to Argentina felt like most painful in 60 years of hurtSportPublished8 hours ago'Passive' and 'crumbled' - did Tuchel's defensive tactics cost England?SportPublished2 hours agoArgentina shatter England's World Cup dreams in semi-finalSportPublished11 hours agoRelated internet linksFIFA World Cup 2026

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Former Chelsea forward Sam Kerr began her second spell with Gotham FC in front of the largest ever crowd for a women's sporting event in New York City.Over 42,000 fans turned out at Citi Field for Gotham's 1-0 victory against Washington Spirt in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).Usually home to Major League Baseball team the New York Mets, the official attendance was announced as a sell-out 42,715.Kerr, who came on as a second-half substitute, played for Gotham between 2015 and 2017 when they were known as Sky Blue FC."In many ways this is like a full circle ​moment with Sam Kerr coming here and being able to experience this on her first night," NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said.American midfielder Rose Lavelle scored the winner in the first half.Gotham's previous best attendance for a game was 15,560 in 2024 and the record crowd for a NWSL game remains the 63,000 who watched the Denver Summit play the Spirit at the NFL Denver Broncos' home Empower Field last March.Gotham recently announced they will move from Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey to Etihad Park in Queens, a ground they will share with MLS outfit New York City.The move is said to be designed to help Gotham become accessible to more fans.Record buy O'Sullivan leaves Liverpool for Gotham"My favourite thing about tonight is that it isn't transactional. It's not a one and done. This is the beginning of a ​new relationship for this team in Queens."Kerr's return to New York had a large turnout despite a thick layer of smoke that hung in the air from recent wildfires in Ontario, Canada.The World Cup final between Spain and Argentina is due to take place at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, but soaring temperatures are expected to fall by then and organisers expect the smoke to clear as well.New episodes of Women's Football Weekly podcast drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed

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The Brazil international has left Wolves' training camp in Portugal and will have a medical on Thursday.The deal is worth an initial £34m with another £4m in add ons.Villa need midfield reinforcements after selling Youri Tielemans to Manchester United for £35m and seeing Amadou Onana ruled out until next year with a serious knee injury he suffered with Belgium at the World Cup.They are also close to completing the signing of Switzerland international Johan Manzambi for a club record fee of over £50m from Freiburg.Atletico Madrid had been keen on Gomes but did not finalise a deal.Gomes made 41 appearances for Wolves last season as they finished bottom of the Premier League.He played 130 times for the club, scoring seven goals, after joining from Flamengo in 2023.

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Watching England lose is one thing. Watching them lose surrounded by millions celebrating Argentina’s march to another World Cup final, is completely differentLook, most people were awfully good about it. Our waiter at a restaurant near Plaza de Mayo shook our hands warmly and said nice things about Jude Bellingham. On the metro ride back from the fan zone there was no massive gloating either, just bright-eyed kids in Lionel Messi shirts swept along by the nationwide euphoria. “Vamos, Vamos Argentina!” they sang, barely able to believe their team were once again in a World Cup final.And to be a stray English bystander in a city totally awash in sky blue and white was … a rare privilege. Some of us currently over here covering England’s rugby union tour have been lucky enough to visit a few iconic sporting cauldrons, but to be in Buenos Aires in the aftermath of Argentina defeating England at a football World Cup is right up there.From train drivers triumphantly honking their horns at every underground platform to people dancing in the streets and old ladies waving flags from balconies high above the traffic, it made even a frenzied cricket World Cup fixture between India and Pakistan feel like a garden fete. “Tell them you’re Scottish,” advised my Argentinian friend, concerned for our welfare in the event of an English victory. In the event there was no need for any such subterfuge.For a while, though, that was not a certainty. Imagine, if you can, sitting in a deserted library in the tiniest hamlet in deepest Tierra del Fuego. It still would not be as quiet as the aghast silence that greeted Anthony Gordon putting England 1-0 up. Forty years on from Diego Maradona’s Hand of God, the Foot of Gordon threatened to be almost as legendary. Momentarily it felt like Buenos Aires had had all the ‘air’ sucked out of it.Alas, poor England, we all know how it finished. And, leaving aside the idiot fan zone announcer briefly yelling about the ‘Malvinas’ and someone setting fire to a homemade flag of St George as the celebrations ramped up in town, the main takeaway is just how football crazy this country is. Lorries and cars with national flags draped across dashboards, Messi’s face on every billboard … Mexico and Brazil may say otherwise but Argentina belongs in an obsessive league of its own.Goodness knows how frenzied the atmosphere will be during Sunday’s final. After Argentina won the World Cup four years ago, around four million people took to the streets of the capital. The city was so ridiculously congested that a planned open-top bus parade had to be abandoned; in the end the players flew overhead in helicopters instead. I asked one local resident how long the public celebrations had lasted. “They’re still going on,” came the dry reply.And beating the English always adds a certain extra frisson. En route into town from the airport this week, our parka-wearing taxi driver made teasing ‘Hand of God’ gestures at us as soon as he found out our nationality. It might have been more amusing had he not been hammering down a busy dual carriageway at 90mph at the time.Subsequently, having made absolutely sure to charge us a vastly inflated fare on the grounds that his meter “wasn’t working”, our man also made a point of winding down his window and shouting “Campeones, Argentina!” as he pulled away. For some people, getting one over Los Ingleses never loses its appeal.Happily, though, there are also those determined to reject crass parallels between a mere football match and the 1982 Falklands crisis. Argentinian war veterans even put out an eve-of-game statement calling on politicians not to use the semi-final as a platform to push for sovereignty over the South Atlantic islands, asking fans instead to honour the memory of the Argentinian soldiers killed in the conflict.That said, “El Que No Salta Es Un Inglés” – “Anyone who doesn’t jump is an Englishman” – remains very definitely the local chant of choice. Incidentally, the recent death of Bonnie Tyler also made headlines here because her hit single, It’s a Heartache, supplies the tune for another extremely popular terrace ditty, the lyrics of which are probably best left to the imagination.Either way, it now falls to Messi and co to finish the job. Argentina’s population is about 46 million – the wider Buenos Aires metropolitan area is home to about 16 million people alone – and the scenes at the capital’s Obelisk monument, where fans traditionally go to celebrate major wins, will be off the charts should Spain be beaten.

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Jude Bellingham slapped Argentina substitute Valentin Barco on the back of the head following England's 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat.Barco, who did not play in the game, came on to the pitch at full-time and was hugging team-mates near Bellingham when the England midfielder walked over and slapped him.It sparked a small melee as players from both sides got involved before Bellingham walked away.It is not known what prompted the reaction, but footage showed Barco running on the pitch after Enzo Fernandez's 85th-minute equaliser and celebrating in front of the England players.Lautaro Martinez headed the winner for Argentina in the second minute of stoppage time, ending the hopes of an England side who had taken an early second-half lead through Anthony Gordon's goal.Barco, 21, who plays for French side Strasbourg and previously had a spell at Brighton, has featured once at the tournament as a second-half substitute in a 3-1 group win against Jordan.The first half of Wednesday's match in Atlanta was feisty with 19 fouls, as American referee Ismail Elfath struggled to keep control.Bellingham, who has scored six goals in the tournament, also had a confrontation with Argentina captain Lionel Messi in the fourth minute after England midfielder Elliot Anderson had been fouled."We were really just discussing a foul, actually," Bellingham is reported to have said. after the match."It wasn't anything bad. I'm sure everyone will do their thing and make it a big deal, but it was nothing."When the World Cup finishes, the football continues on BBC SportHow to watch the World Cup on the BBC and ITV

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Goals scored by players in the World Cup's third place play-off will count towards a player's goal tally and the race for the Golden Boot.It means that the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham can still win the Golden Boot at the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, despite France and England exiting in the semi-finals.Heading into the final two matches of the tournament, the quartet are among the seven players who have scored five or more goals so far.England and France face each other in the third-place play-off on Saturday. A day later, Spain take on Argentina in the final.Mbappe is joint-top for goals with Messi, both on eight each. However, Messi leads the race due to having one more assist than Mbappe at the tournament so far.Norway's Erling Haaland is next on the list with seven goals, but he will not be able to add to them this weekend after his country's quarter-final exit.England duo Bellingham and Kane both have six goals each, while France winger Dembele and Spain striker Mikel Oyarzabal have five goals apiece.The Golden Boot race could well be decided by how strong a side England and France each field for the third-place play-off on Saturday.When England faced Belgium in the same match in 2018, then-Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate made five changes for the match from the team that lost to Croatia in the semi-finals. Tournament golden boot winner Kane did start the match but did not score.A total of seven previous World Cup Golden Boot winners have scored goals in the third-place play-off. Four of those seven required the goals they scored in that match to win the award.Germany's Thomas Muller (2010), Croatia's Davor Suker (1998), Italy's Salvatore Schillaci (1990) and Leonidas of Brazil (1938) all benefitted from the match, with goals in those games ultimately leading to their Golden Boot awards.Grzegorz Lato of Poland (1974), Portugal great Eusebio (1966) and France's Just Fontaine (1958) also won the award and scored in the third-place play-off in the same year. However, they would have still won the award regardless of their goals in that match.Contact formContact formTop scorers at 2026 World CupLionel Messi (Argentina) and Kylian Mbappe (France) – 8Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane (both England) – 6Ousmane Dembele (France) and Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) - 51974 – Grzegorz Lato (Poland) (would have won without play-off)1966 – Eusebio (Portugal) (would have won without play-off)1958 – Just Fontaine (France) (would have won without play-off)This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

World Cup News

Close22Thousands of Argentina fans celebrated in the streets of Buenos Aires after reaching back-to-back World Cup finals with a 2-1 win against England.Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated topicsFootballFollow Footballclose panelYou are now following FootballUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.ArgentinaFollow Argentinaclose panelYou are now following ArgentinaUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.England Men's Football TeamFollow England Men's Football Teamclose panelYou are now following England Men's Football TeamUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.FIFA World Cup 2026Follow FIFA World Cup 2026

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Close00England defender Dan Burn said he thought England were going to win the World Cup following their 2-1 semi-final exit to Argentina.Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated topicsFootballFollow Footballclose panelYou are now following FootballUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.FIFA World Cup 2026Follow FIFA World Cup 2026close panelYou are now following FIFA World Cup 2026Updates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.England Men's Football TeamFollow England Men's Football Team

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Close13Argentina players celebrated while holding a banner reading "Las Malvinas son Argentinas", which translates as "The Falklands are Argentine".The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina.Shareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated topicsArgentinaFollow Argentinaclose panelYou are now following ArgentinaUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.FootballFollow Footballclose panelYou are now following FootballUpdates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.FIFA World Cup 2026Follow FIFA World Cup 2026close panelYou are now following FIFA World Cup 2026Updates from your Sport topics will appear in My Sport and in a collection on the Sport homepage.England Men's Football TeamFollow England Men's Football Team

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Argentina defender Cristian Romero says Gary Neville was "stupid" to criticise his centre-back partnership with Lisandro Martinez.In the build-up to Argentina's dramatic 2-1 World Cup semi-final win over England, former Manchester United full-back Neville described Romero and Martinez as "the best, worst centre-half pairing in the world".Both were booked in Wednesday's feisty last-four match in Atlanta, but they also played a significant part in England being limited to only two shots on target as defending champions Argentina came from behind to win with late goals.Romero and Martinez, who are both 28, have started all but one of Argentina's World Cup games this summer, helping Lionel Scaloni's side reach their second successive World Cup final."The only thing that I hope for is that when I retire, I am not that stupid. Hopefully I won't criticise a player or anyone," Tottenham defender Romero told DSports when he was asked about Neville's punditry comments."Because at the end of the day, we are doing our best for our national team. Sometimes it goes right for us, sometimes badly, but we are just happy to be in a World Cup final again."I think we are making history, for us it is something really huge, and we feel the significance of this shirt like no-one else."Manchester United defender Martinez had his own say, explaining: "We're used to people always talking about us. It seems like they like doing it, and we respond on the pitch, that's it, always with respect."'Passive' and 'crumbled' - did Tuchel's defensive tactics cost England?Neville, who won 85 caps for England and works for ITV and Sky, commented on the pair on the Overlap Podcast., external"They seem to give a goal away between them every single game," said Neville."But you watch them, they are scoring goals, heading the ball, they're literally everywhere - it's incredible."I call them the best, worst centre-half pairing in the world. Because they absolutely at times can be unbelievable, but the next, it's the sublime to the ridiculous."Argentina face Spain in Sunday's World Cup final (20:00 BST) as they look to win the tournament for a fourth time, while England take on France in Saturday's third-place match (22:00).Argentina face action after waving Falklands bannerWhen the World Cup finishes, the football continues on BBC Sport

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CloseEngland fans have described their heartbreak after the Three Lions slipped to defeat in the World Cup semi-final.Two late goals by holders Argentina saw Thomas Tuchel's side lose 2-1 in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday.Families who gathered at Brantham Leisure Centre in Suffolk to watch the action said they were "gutted" by the result.Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, external, Instagram, external and X, external.