Bukayo Saka says England still carrying World Cup ‘scar’ but must move on

Bukayo Saka says England’s players are still carrying the “scar” of the Argentina defeat as they enter their first international break since World Cup heartbreak. The Three Lions achieved their best ever finish at a World Cup as they came away with bronze, but the defining moment of the campaign was their late semi-final capitulation against the 2022 winners, losing 2-1 in stoppage time. Tuchel held a meeting with the squad on Tuesday to talk through what happened at the World Cup and turn attention towards the home Euros in 2028. The England manager had also referenced the “scar” of the Argentina game in his first interview since the tournament and while Saka admits the players are still hurting, he asserts they have to look forward. Bukayo Saka (middle) was an unused substitute in England’s semi-final defeat to Argentina (Getty) “Obviously, there’s still a scar in us,” he said on BBC Radio 5 Live . “When you believed, and everyone was so united and so confident we could do it, not just us, but the whole country. “We’re trying to draw a line under it now and focus on the new international season and what we have coming up now. “You try to move on as soon as possible, but you know, a scar is a scar (and) decides to heal when it heals itself. “But like I said, we’ve come here to a new international season, and we’ve got four massive, difficult group games to try to qualify us in the Nations League, which we’re fully focused on.” Saka, who was managing an Achilles injury throughout the tournament in North America, was an unused substitute during the last-four defeat as boss Tuchel chose defensive replacements in order to hold on to a lead. The Arsenal winger then returned to the side for the third-place play-off in Miami three days later and scored a hat-trick in the memorable 6-4 win over France , which led to questions about his omission from the semi-final loss. Saka admitted it was “tough” for him to be left on the bench for such an important game but wants to move on from the disappointment that came from the World Cup, as both an individual and a team. Saka told talkSPORT : “There’s been a lot of talk and speculation about decisions and whatnot in the Argentina game, but for me, it was tough not to come in. “But we’re here in a new camp in a new season, and just want to look ahead now and try not to dwell on it anymore. “You have to put full faith in (to the manager’s decisions). He puts full faith in you, and you go out on the pitch. You put full faith in him when he’s making decisions as a unit. “That’s football. To be fair, that’s how football’s always been. You have the manager. You have the players. The manager gives his brief, his tactics, and you go out on the pitch as players and deliver at the same time as well.”