Saka breaks his silence: "it was tough" being left out for the Argentina semifinal

Sitting on the bench for a World Cup semifinal isn't easy for anyone, and Bukayo Saka isn't hiding from that. The Arsenal winger, who carried an Achilles issue through the entire tournament in North America, was an unused substitute in England's loss to Argentina, when Thomas Tuchel opted for defensive reinforcements to try to protect the result. Three days later, Saka was back in the starting eleven for the third-place match in Miami and scored a hat trick in a thrilling 6-4 win over France, reopening the debate over why he'd been left out of the decisive game.

Days passed, a new international season began, and the player himself decided to speak candidly about what he felt that night.

There's been a lot of debate and speculation about the decisions in the Argentina game, but for me it was tough not being able to get on. But we're here now in a new camp, in a new season, and we just want to look forward and try not to keep dwelling on it.Bukayo Saka

He said it on talkSPORT, and he didn't stop there. Saka stressed that the relationship between players and manager is built on mutual trust, even when the decisions don't go your way personally.

You have to fully trust the manager's decisions. He fully trusts you, and you go out on the pitch. You trust him when he makes decisions as a group. That's football, that's how it's always been. There's the manager, there are the players, the manager gives his instructions, his tactics, and the players go out on the pitch to deliver.Bukayo Saka

Tuchel gathered the group to move on

Tuchel himself sat down with the squad on Tuesday to go over what happened at the World Cup and start turning their attention toward Euro 2028, which England will host. It's not the kind of thing that gets resolved overnight, and Saka admits as much without dressing it up: the wound is still there.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the forward talked about what that World Cup meant for the group and for an entire country that truly believed it could lift the trophy.

Obviously there's still a scar on us. When we believed, when we were all so united and so confident that we could do it, not just us, but the whole country.Bukayo Saka

Even so, the player's message is about moving forward, not standing still. England's focus is already on the four group games, "huge and difficult," that will determine their qualification in the Nations League.

We're trying to leave it behind as soon as possible, but a scar is a scar and it heals when it decides to heal. Like I said, we're into a new international season and we've got four huge and difficult group games to try to qualify in the Nations League, and that's what we're fully focused on.Bukayo Saka

The calendar doesn't leave much room for lingering regret. With a home Euros on the horizon and immediate competition ahead, Saka and the rest of the squad seem determined to turn that scar into motivation rather than an excuse.