Prince Harry gives his take on where it all went wrong for England in World Cup loss to Argentina

By MARTIN ROBINSON, CHIEF REPORTER Published: 07:49, 20 July 2026 | Updated: 07:53, 20 July 2026 Prince Harry has claimed England lacked the winning 'mindset' needed to reach a World Cup final. The Duke of Sussex appeared on James Corden's Fox Sports show alongside former England defender Rio Ferdinand and suggested the Three Lions were left in 'shock' after taking the lead against Argentina.  England did not truly believe they could beat Argentina after going 1-0 ahead, Harry said. Asked why England failed to make the final, the royal said the answer came down to mindset and belief. Speaking with a pint of lager in front of him on Fox Sports in the US, he said: 'It's mindset. 'I think what we saw was a slight shock value for them. "S**t, we are 1-0 up against Argentina" and there was this immediate temptation to fall into defence.' Harry appeared to defend England manager Thomas Tuchel, insisting the team's retreat was not part of the game plan.  Tuchel's defensive substitutions have been widely blamed along with the mysterious exclusion of attacking stars including Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford, who stayed on the bench. Harry said: 'I don't think it was a tactic. I don't think that was the plan. It just happened. 'After 72-73 minutes, whatever it was, you can't just defend a 1-0 lead against a team like that. You just can't. 'The mindset is the belief. The fact that you are 1-0 up, believe that you can be 2-0 up.' Prince Harry Duke of Sussex has some ideas on what England football needs to do to get to a FIFA World Cup Final 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/IoOzCr97rh England will never reach a World Cup final unless they change their 'mindset', Prince Harry has claimed James Corden suggested that Harry could join the England management team after his tactical analysis  Corden then joked that Ferdinand should become the next England manager, with Harry serving as his assistant. The conversation soon turned to Harry's own footballing skills, with the TV host teasing his friend over attending Eton College. Corden joked that Harry had gone to a school too posh to play football, prompting the Duke to reveal he had been a first-team player at prep school before ending up in the bottom team when more children joined for senior school.  Harry joked that he thought he was good at football until he was demoted to the bottom team at school Harry said: 'In prep school I was in the first team. And then I went to the bigger school and I was in the E team, being A team down to E team.' Smiling after drawing laughs from the studio, he pointed at one audience member and joked: 'You found that really funny, didn't you?' The light-hearted exchange also saw Harry mock Corden for calling the sport 'soccer' after the Duke himself was caught doing the same thing earlier this month. 'I thought you went to a school that was too posh to play soccer?' Corden asked. Harry shot back: 'Too posh to play football? Why are you calling it soccer? He added: 'It was such a posh school that everything was an option. There was a football team.' Harry was in the UK for a week earlier this month and apologised after referring to England's World Cup quarter-final against Norway as a game of 'soccer'. After six years living in the US, the Duke of Sussex slipped into using the American term for the beautiful game when This Morning host Alison Hammond invited him back to her house for ackee and saltfish, Jamaica's national dish. Delighted by the invitation, Harry replied: 'And some soccer as well?', before quickly correcting himself: 'Some football, sorry. Football, not soccer.' Alison then joked that she needed to tidy up first. Harry replied: 'Okay, why does it need tidying up? I'll bleach your toilet for you. For you, anything.'