Keith Hackett reacts to contentious Djed Spence footage - should Argentina winner have counted?

Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence produced one of the performances of his life, but it was not enough as England lost to Argentina.

Spence was England's best performer in Wednesday night's semi-final clash in Atlanta.

Argentina found themselves 1-0 down heading into the closing stages through Anthony Gordon's 55th-minute opener.

But Enzo Fernandes struck from range in the 85th minute and Lautaro Martinez snatched the win two minutes into added time.

The manner of the loss was heartbreaking for England, even if they were the architects of their own downfall through Thomas Tuchel's substitutions.

However, there is a strong case to be made that Martinez's winner should not have been allowed to stand.

Lionel Messi gets away with one in Argentina win

There have been more than a few murmurings that FIFA are trying their best to get Lionel Messi and Argentina to another World Cup final.

Those claims would not have been helped by footage that has emerged from just prior to Martinez's headed winner.

Messi can be seen catching the boot of Spence inside the penalty area, before the ball was recycled and dramatically turned in.

A still of the incident can be seen via the Tweet below, with Spence clearly caught - albeit not maliciously in any way.

Referee Ismail Elfath, who was in the thick of it all night, was not alerted to the incident by VAR.

Former FIFA referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, has explained why Messi perhaps got away with the incident.

"If VAR believes that the referee has made a clear and obvious error, then he can come back and advise the referee of a foul in the build-up," he said.

"Sadly, I saw the challenge as reckless, but the VAR did not judge it a foul and therefore it was not flagged."

That will do little to help the mood of England fans, whose anger has mainly been pointed towards manager Tuchel.

Roberto De Zerbi will be licking his lips at England display

With the World Cup final now just a few days away, attention will soon turn back to club football.

Roberto De Zerbi has plenty to be excited about at Tottenham thanks to some quality new additions.

While he is far from a new player, Spence may well feel like one if he can replicate his World Cup displays at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spence was brilliant for England against Argentina, as he has been pretty much whenever called upon this tournament.

The full-back's future looked uncertain in North London, but Spurs have quite the talent on their hands based on Wednesday night's display.

It is now over to De Zerbi to unlock that and unleash the player many knew Spence could always become under the right management.