Thomas Tuchel reacts after FIFA approve Argentina 'special request' for England clash

Thomas Tuchel’s England lock horns with Argentina for a place in the World Cup final (Picture: Getty)

Thomas Tuchel has welcomed reports of

Argentina making a ‘special request’ to wear navy blue

in tonight’s World Cup semi-final, suggesting he ‘would have done the same’ if it is deemed a ‘lucky shirt’ against England.

Argentina, the holders, have played in their famous light blue and white strip in all but one of their six opening contests at the

World Cup

, only donning their darker shade for their group-stage victory over Jordan.

Indeed,

Lionel Messi

and Co were wearing their iconic stripes at the weekend as they edged out quarter-final opponents Switzerland in extra-time to set up a historic meeting with old rivals England this evening.

Ahead of the eagerly anticipated semi-final showdown, well-known Argentine journalist

Gaston Edul

reported that Lionel Scaloni’s camp had made a ‘special request’ to FIFA asking to play in navy blue in Atlanta.

The rivalry between Argentina and England, one steeped in history both on and off the pitch, throws up memories from the teams’ various meetings down the years, perhaps most notably in 1986 when Diego Maradona scored two unforgettable goals – including the infamous ‘Hand of God’ – to knock out England.

And with so much riding on tonight’s semi-final showdown, Argentina are said to have drawn on the past and superstitious beliefs to gain a psychological edge, requesting to play in the colour worn by Maradona four decades ago.

Argentina also played in navy blue when they eliminated England from the 1998 World Cup, the bad-tempered game in which

David Beckham

was shown a red card for a petulant kick on Diego Simeone.

The holders played in light blue and white stripes against Switzerland (Picture: Getty)

Bellingham scored twice to inspire England to victory over Norway (Picture: Getty)

FIFA’s official

Match Colour Designation release

confirms that Argentina have been given the green light to wear their second strip, with the accompanying white shorts and red socks, while the Three Lions will play in white.

‘You talk to the one person who was not aware until tomorrow’s warm-up of what colour we play in,’ England manager Tuchel said in response to Argentina’s ‘special request’.

‘Argentina plays in blue? And we play in white? And that is because Argentina is superstitious or it is a lucky shirt? They chose this?

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‘I would have done the same. If there was any superstition combined with it, I would have done the same.’

The German added: ‘Credit to them, I was not aware of that.’

Prone to superstition himself, Tuchel insists such beliefs and acts are ‘normal’ in elite sport.

Maradona was wearing navy blue for the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal in 1986 (Picture: Getty)

He continued: ‘I have my superstitious routines. I will not tell you [what they are] because another superstition is that if I tell you, it will not work so I can’t.

‘But of course we have routines that keep you grounded and calm through the day.

‘These things are just normal in high-level sport.’

Argentina were wearing their second strip when they knocked out England in 1998 (Picture: Getty)

According to Tuchel, there has been a noticeable ‘switch of energy’ within the England camp in the build-up to the semi-final.

‘We want to take the next step,’ the former

Chelsea

, Paris Saint-Germain and

Bayern Munich

boss explained.

‘I like the switch of energy in our camp. I feel the players are very excited. I feel they’re very ambitious for this semi-final.

‘No one is satisfied and that’s exactly the right mixture to have the performance that we need for tomorrow.’

There have been lingering concerns over the fitness of England vice-captain Declan Rice, who was replaced at half-time versus Norway after suffering with an illness in the days prior.

But the

Arsenal

midfielder has made ‘as good a recovery as possible’ and is ready to start at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, along with Reece James, who came off the substitutes bench last time out.

Jarell Quansah is serving the second game of a two-match suspension following his sending off against Mexico, while Jordan Henderson has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament with a broken arm.

‘Everyone is fit to start, except Jarell and Jordan [Henderson],’ Tuchel said.

‘Declan is ready to start and [had] as good a recovery as possible.’

Rice is fit to start tonight’s semi-final (Picture: Getty)

England will do battle with Spain in this year’s final should they overcome Argentina, with La Roja defeating a toothless France to advance through on Tuesday.

It would be a repeat of the Euro 2024 final, when Mikel Oyarzabal’s late goal steered Luis de la Fuente’s men to a 2-1 victory in Berlin.

‘This is unbelievable,’ Tuchel said of Spain’s comfortable semi-final win over France, the World Cup runners-up four years ago in Qatar.

‘It seems like they cannot lose any knockout matches with him [De La Fuente], so what he does to this group is outstanding. They play with a clear trademark.

I didn’t see a lot of them because either we are in training or in buses or in planes so I didn’t see a lot of them today. I saw one half and that was very impressive.

‘Congratulations, full credit to them, the coach and his staff. A brilliant achievement and hopefully we can follow the effort.’

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