Argentina beat England 2-1 in second semifinal, book final berth against Spain
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Argentina beat England 2-1 in second semifinal, book final berth against Spain")
Argentina leave it late to beat England and qualify for World Cup final Photograph: (AFP)
Lionel Messi assists twice as defending champions Argentina beat England 2-1 in a late-game World Cup thriller. Argentina face Spain in the 2026 final.
Two assists from Lionel Messi inspired Argentina's stunning comeback to beat England 2-1 in the second semifinal in Atlanta. Argentina qualify for their second successive World Cup final, facing Spain on July 19 in New Jersey for the summit clash. Late goals from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez in the space of seven minutes broke a million English hearts, as the defending champions remarkably made it to the final. Anthony Gordon opened the scoring for the Three Lions in the second half, but that wasn't enough to keep them afloat in the race for their first World Cup final in 60 years.
For the second straight World Cup knockout tie, Argentina was behind at one point and needed a goal or two to come back; however, for the second consecutive time, they did so, knocking England out of the World Cup final race. Neither the players nor their fans let their heads drop as they played like champions to book a berth in the final against Spain – the team that beat France in the first semifinal.
Ecstasy for Argentina, Heartbreak for England
Argentina has made a habit of leaving it late to make a comeback in a World Cup game this edition, with the two goals -- Fernández’s long-range volley in the 85th minute and Martínez’s winner seven minutes later – making up for the 12th occasion that they have scored after the 75th minute in this tournament, the most by any team. Argentina, strangely, turn on their ruthless mode after conceding a goal, and this second semifinal was no different.
After a rusty first half, full of punches, pushes, and more referee intervention than shots on target, football took precedence in the second half. Just when it looked like Argentina had begun pressing more, a counterattack led to England opening the scoring through winger Gordon, who also scored his first World Cup goal. The Atlanta crowd erupted in joy, with Argentine players finding themselves in a similar spot.
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Argentina leave it late to beat England and qualify for World Cup final Photograph: (AFP)
Needing a goal to equalise and two in total to lead England, they threw caution to the wind and went for the glory. England, on the other hand, deployed a defensive approach, which did them no good in the end.
Near misses kept Argentina going until Fernández’s out-of-this-world strike -- his second in consecutive matches -- drew Argentina level with England. The ecstasy on the faces of the defending champions and the despair on England’s told the entire story.
Seven minutes later, in stoppage time, a brilliant assist from Messi saw Martínez convert it into a goal, leaving everyone shocked.
While England couldn’t believe what happened despite parking the bus, Argentina knew it punched its World Cup final ticket against Spain.
England and France, on the other hand, will face off in the 3rd-place playoff match.
