Toronto radio host Sam McKee summed up England's World Cup loss in simple words this week. He compared the Three Lions' semifinal loss against Argentina to the same heartbreak the Toronto Maple Leafs went through.

England led 1-0 deep into the Wednesday, July 15 match in Atlanta. This was before Argentina scored twice in the final few moments to win 2-1. They eliminated England and advanced to the Sunday, July 19 final against Spain. Sportsnet 590 co-host Sam McKee reacted on X shortly after the match ended.

"England went full Maple Leafs," he wrote. "The gravity of the moment got to them. Unbelievable heartbreak for the Lions. Hard to believe that just happened." 

This comment comes as England falls into a similar collapse that Toronto has experienced across nearly six decades without a championship.

Anthony Gordon's second-half goal put England ahead. But Argentina quickly got back with Enzo Fernández's equalizer in the 85th minute. Lautaro Martínez then scored in stoppage time, with Messi assisting both Argentina goals.

This mark shows us England built a major lead in the tournament, only to lose it later. It was followed by similar losses in the 2018 World Cup semifinal against Croatia and the Euro 2020 final against Italy. 

It went through all that only to fall one win short of their first World Cup final appearance since 1966.

England's only World Cup title came in 1966; the Maple Leafs' last Stanley Cup came in 1967. This means that both teams have waited for roughly six decades for a repeat. 

The Maple Leafs suffered a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on April 1, a defeat that officially ended Toronto's streak of 10 straight playoff appearances.

Each side has its own version of the loss. An unexpected Wayne Gretzky move eliminated Toronto in 1993; Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal did the same for England in 1986.

Statistically, it’s the same too. Toronto has the most Game 7 losses in the NHL since 1990,  while England has been eliminated more often in major tournaments than any other national team.

For Leafs fans, this comment lands in a way that'll sting as it comes just months after Toronto's own season ended while building itself.

A pattern of late collapses: England and Toronto Maple Leafs' six-decade drought

Toronto missed the playoffs in 2025-26 for the first time since 2016. It ended a run of ten straight appearances in the postseason.

According to an article from NHL.com, this disruption was traced back to the offseason trade of Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights. And those 102 points from the previous season were never replaced. 

Auston Matthews fought hard through the down year. He scored 27 goals in 60 games before a season-ending knee injury. From then on, the team's power play fell from the top of the league's best to below average. 

Toronto also allowed 286 goals, which was the second-most in the NHL. The general manager, Brad Treliving, was fired at the end of March as the organization started a complete rebuild, moving into the offseason.

Given that situation, McKee's comparison of both losses is to reflect on the team that lived through a similar collapse of their own just a few months earlier.

Share your thoughts on the comparison.

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar