England suffered World Cup heartache on Wednesday night with two late goals in seven minutes giving Argentina a 2-1 comeback win and place in Sunday’s final against Spain.

The substitute Lautaro Martínez scored the winner with a close-range header in injury time after Enzo Martínez had equalised with a superb strike from the edge of England’s penalty area in the 85th minute, with Lionel Messi providing the assists for both goals.

Argentina will have the opportunity to retain the World Cup against the European champions in New York, a mouthwatering fixture that will be Messi’s final appearance on the biggest stage.

Messi led Argentina players’ jubilant celebrations in front of their fans after the final whistle, with some of the squad displaying a banner which read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (the Falkland Islands are Argentinian) in a nod to the historical enmity aroused by this fixture.

The conflict remains a source of bitterness in Argentina 44 years later, but the players’ decision to express it may lead to disciplinary action from Fifa.

England had been minutes from making history by reaching their first men’s World Cup final since 1966, and first overseas, but paid the price for adopting defensive tactics after Anthony Gordon had given them the lead in the 55th minute.

Thomas Tuchel’s substitutes were immediately criticised by pundits and fans, with the head coach bringing on three defenders and switching to a back-five in an attempt to preserve the 1-0 lead.

Gordon was the first to be taken off in the 72nd minute, with Ezri Konsa coming on as Tuchel instructed his players to adopt a 5-3-2 formation, with two more defenders, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly, introduced in the 82nd minute.

The captain, Harry Kane, who is on six goals before England’s third-place playoff on Saturday against France, two behind Messi and Kylian Mbappé in the race for the Golden Boot, conceded England had not been too defensive after taking the lead.

“Once we went 1-0 up we seemed to just try to hold on, which at this level is not enough,” he told the BBC. “I’m just gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone, the team, the staff, the fans. We played a good game for the large majority of it.

“I’m just gutted because we’ve worked so hard to be here. The lads have given everything – every last bit of running, sweat, blood, tears, whatever it is. To fall short like we did today is just gutting.

“After the goal whether it was them putting more men forward or us just not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave [of Argentina attacks]. We were trying to hold on, lads were putting blocks in, but in the end it just wasn’t enough.

“We had a lot of good moments in this tournament. A lot of good games. Another semi-final. We talk about knocking on the door. We are close, we just need to find that missing piece in the final stage of the tournament. These tournaments take it out of you: so much effort and pressure and mentality and we’ve shown a lot of that throughout the whole six-seven weeks we’ve been together. We’re just missing that final piece.”

Tuchel defended his substitutions, but admitted that England lacked aggression after taking the lead and conceded possession too easily.

“We’re disappointed,” he said. “We were so close, but we got too passive after the goal. We conceded so, so many crosses and chances and shots. We were close, but we couldn’t keep the level up after we scored.

“We decided to go to a back five because the gaps were too big and [we had to] be strong in the air. Straight after the goal, with no substitutions, we conceded far too many crosses. We tried to help the players, but the responsibility is on the coach.

“Of course we wanted to go for the second goal, but it doesn’t help if you don’t have the ball. We became too passive, we couldn’t keep the ball. I don’t think it was a structural problem. The match changed completely and I understand that these discussions are out there, that there are a million coaches out there who know better. I have to make a decision.”

Tuchel insisted he had no regrets, but the manner of England’s defeat will affect perceptions of their achievements earlier in the tournament in reaching only their fourth World Cup semi-final.

England’s performances have been patchy, with a heroic win over Mexico with 10-men in the Azteca Stadium in the last 32 the undoubted high point before they scrapped to an extra-time victory over Norway in brutally humid conditions in Miami last weekend.

“No regrets, not at the moment,” Tuchel said. “We were very close, we deserved to be 1-0 up – we played one of our better matches [up to that point], maybe our best match.”