Tuchel targets victory as England face France in World Cup third-place play-off

The Three Lions missed out on a place in their first World Cup final since 1966 after surrendering a 1-0 lead in Atlanta on Wednesday. Anthony Gordon's opener had England in control before Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez scored late to seal a 2-1 victory for the defending champions.

Tuchel has faced criticism for his substitutions during the second half but defended the decisions he made during the match, while accepting full responsibility for the outcome.

"I tried to help, I tried to support," Tuchel said.

"I took a decision, I took several decisions, trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness and I took the decision in order to help the team and get the result.

"We didn't get the result, so I take, of course, the responsibility for these decisions. But the decisions are made under stress, the decisions are made in-game."

The German admitted the defeat had left a deep mark on both himself and his squad.

"We have to live with this, so it's our pain, my pain and the players' pain - we feel the most pain of all," he said.

"And it is our scar that we carry now. It is a very painful defeat, and we have to live with this defeat, first and foremost."

Despite the disappointment, Tuchel believes England have made progress during his first major tournament in charge, although he accepts there is still work to do before they can consistently match the world's leading international sides.

He pointed to finalists Argentina, European champions Spain and France as the benchmark, saying their success has been built over many years.

"I think the gap is there because of the titles that Argentina, France and Spain have as national teams, as countries," Tuchel said.

"What they built over many years with the coaches and the team, there's still a slight gap that we have to close."

Tuchel believes those nations also have a stronger expectation of winning the biggest tournaments, something England are still striving to achieve.

Argentina will meet Spain in Sunday's World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while England will look to finish their campaign on a positive note against France.

Tuchel is confident his players will bounce back from their semi-final disappointment.

"We will overcome it, we will use it, we will have a reaction and it starts from tomorrow," he said.

"We have a gap to close, and we are aware of that, and that's where the focus is."

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