Аргентин болон Английн шигшээ багууд ДАШТ-ий хагас шигшээд учраа таарлаа

Can England stop Lionel Messi leading the reigning champions Argentina to another World Cup final?

The Inter Miami star has been in imperious form so far, scoring eight times and setting up two goals for his team-mates en route to the semi-finals.

Four years ago, Messi and co went all the way in Qatar, beating France on penalties in the final after the scoreline had been 3-3 after extra-time (Messi had scored twice).

Spain lie in wait again on Sunday for the final at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, having beaten France in the other semi-final at AT&T Stadium on Tuesday evening.

But England will fancy their chances in Atlanta tonight, given the form of their two brilliant forward players: Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. Both have six goals each after six matches, and each have performed heroics for Thomas Tuchel’s side during their path to the last four.

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It promises to be a blockbuster affair at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, given there is such a deep-rooted rivalry between these two sides, featuring Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal at the 1986 World Cup and David Beckham’s red card against Argentina in 1998.

We take a closer look at this game and where it might be decided…

What’s the key info I need to know?

Round: World Cup semi-final
World rankings: England (FIFA ranking: 4th) vs Argentina (2nd)
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Date: Wednesday, July 15
Kick-off: 12pm PT/3pm ET/8pm BST

How did England reach the semi-finals?

England’s route has been driven by two players — Kane and Bellingham. Tuchel’s side opened in Dallas on June 17 with a 4-2 win over Croatia. Kane scored twice, including a penalty, before Bellingham and Marcus Rashford completed the victory.

A goalless draw with Ghana followed in Boston on June 23 but England still topped Group L after Bellingham and Kane struck in a 2-0 win over Panama in New Jersey four days later.

The knockout stages have been far less comfortable and England fell behind after seven minutes against DR Congo in Atlanta when Brian Cipenga scored from Djed Spence’s flank. Kane rescued them with two goals in the final 15 minutes to seal a 2-1 victory.

At the Azteca in Mexico City, Bellingham scored twice in quick succession before Julian Quinones pulled one back and Jarell Quansah’s second-half red card left England under intense pressure.

Kane converted a penalty and Tuchel’s 10 men survived Raul Jimenez’s late spot kick to win 3-2.

England again had to recover in their quarter-final against Norway in Miami in the quarter-finals when Andreas Schjelderup’s awkward cross-shot put Norway ahead, but Bellingham produced a brilliant solo equaliser before half-time.

The Real Madrid midfielder then struck the winner early in extra time after Orjan Nyland spilled Morgan Rogers’ effort. The 2-1 victory took England into a second successive World Cup semi-final, with Kane and Bellingham responsible for 12 of England’s 13 goals.

Amelie Claydon

How did Argentina reach the semi-finals?

A series of Messi moments.

He scored in his first five games of the tournament. He goes into the semi-finals as the World Cup’s all-time top scorer. On the surface, Argentina made light work of their group. They got a little bit lucky in their opener against Algeria. The Algerian FA would say very lucky as they filed a complaint with FIFA claiming Messi should have been sent off prior to his hat-trick for a studs-up challenge on Aissa Mandi.

The Albiceleste’s opener provided us with a couple of themes for the rest of the World Cup: Messi magic and decisions going their way, sometimes justifiably, sometimes not.

Lionel Messi completes his hat-trick against Algeria (Reuters/Bernadett Szabo)

Messi could, quite remarkably, have had another hat-trick in his next game. Austria were considered Argentina’s principal threat in the group stage. How would they cope with the high energy and high press expected from Ralf Rangnick’s team? The answer: Messi. He missed a penalty and didn’t allow it to discourage him.

This became yet another theme of Argentina’s World Cup. Messi scored a brace regardless. The hunger he showed in the 95th minute, when he wouldn’t let a chance to kill the game die, was a clear declaration of intent. Messi is not at the World Cup for a testimonial. He is here to win.

His coach, Lionel Scaloni, then left him out of the starting XI for the final group stage match. Argentina had already wrapped up qualification and wished to rest their captain. When he came on after the hour mark, he still scored. On paper, Argentina’s path to the semi-finals opened up nicely. It looked straightforward enough. In the end, it was anything but.

Cape Verde took Argentina to extra time. Sidny Cabral’s 103rd-minute equaliser, arguably the goal of the tournament, left Argentina shaken up. In the end, they scraped through with an own goal. A few days later, Egypt led Argentina 2-0 with 10 minutes to go. Messi, once again, missed a penalty. His team-mates missed several chances. The champions looked down and out. Instead, they rose up.

It’s a game that will go down in history as it threatened to be Messi’s last. Alas, Argentina rallied to pull off arguably the greatest comeback in World Cup history. When the full-time whistle came, both Messi and Scaloni burst into tears.

Lionel Messi after the last-gasp win against Egypt (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Acrimony shortly followed. Egypt coach Hossam Hassan did not understand why a wonderful sweeping goal by Mostafa Ziko was disallowed when his team were 1-0 up. “There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome,” he said. Ziko went further. He told TSN: “The cup is directed towards Argentina.”

The Switzerland game followed a similar pattern insofar as nothing has come easy for Argentina throughout the knockout stages. They have failed to keep a clean sheet since the Austria game. Jordan, Cape Verde and Egypt have all managed to score against them. As such, when Argentina took an early lead against the Swiss in Kansas City, you always felt they would need another to avoid extra time.

It never came; at least in normal time. Dan Ndoye’s equaliser after 67 minutes left Argentina contemplating extra time for a second time in three knockout games. They couldn’t get the job done in normal time, even when Breel Embolo was shown a second yellow card for a presumed dive just five minutes after Ndoye’s goal.

The 29-year-old needed consoling as he left the pitch amid cries of injustice. His team-mate Remo Freuler called the decision “a disaster”. Murat Yakin, the Switzerland coach, commented: “I wouldn’t say they (Argentina) are being favoured. (But) football didn’t come out on top. We were punished by a referee mistake.”

The Swiss, it must be said, were also punished by one of the goals of the tournament from Julian Alvarez in extra time. It was a sublime curler. His fellow striker Lautaro Martinez then put the game beyond any doubt with another impactful performance from the bench. Messi, for once, didn’t score, ending his streak of nine consecutive World Cup games on the scoresheet.

Alvarez after scoring against Switzerland (Ryan Pierse – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

For all the focus on how much energy Argentina have now got left in the tank, attention should instead turn to the intangibles, the magical realism of this team. The thing to remember about Scaloni’s team is the supernatural always finds its way into Argentina’s football.

James Horncastle

How to watch on TV

United States: 12pm PDT/3pm EDT: FOX (English), Telemundo/Peacock (Spanish)
Canada: 12pm PDT/3pm EDT: TSN/RDS
Mexico: 1pm CST: ViX
United Kingdom: 8pm BST: BBC One and BBC iPlayer

What should we expect from England?

For all the promises of an intense, dominant style at this World Cup, we have seen little of that from England. They blew Croatia away in the second half of their opening game in Dallas but that was almost one month ago now.

Instead, we have seen an England team built around two world-class attacking players, Bellingham and Kane. They have six goals each this World Cup — no Englishman has ever scored more in one edition of this tournament — and they are the two principal reasons why England are at this stage.

England have only scored one other goal this tournament: from Marcus Rashford against Croatia.

Marcus Rashford scores England’s fourth goal against Croatia (Imagn Images via Reuters/Maria Lysaker)

While Kane’s brilliance on this stage is no surprise, Bellingham has found another level when it matters most, scoring twice against Mexico and twice against Norway to drag his team through the knockout rounds.

England have also shown an impressive grit and mentality to get through tough situations. Tuchel has not been afraid to make changes when required, and always has energy on the bench to call upon. He proactively went to a back five in Mexico City — a tactical triumph — and kept making changes against Norway, initially getting it wrong but then getting it right at the end.

And yet they have not always convinced. The midfield engine Declan Rice has not looked right all tournament, unbalancing the team, putting too much pressure on Elliot Anderson. Tuchel has tried four different players at right-back and, in almost every England game, there has been a spell when they have lost their composure and suddenly started conceding big chances. Against Norway, that period lasted for almost an hour.

So far, England have always managed to recover their composure and survive, but Argentina will be more likely to punish a spell like that than anyone else.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

What should we expect from Argentina?

Scaloni insisted the Atlanta semi-final is only a football game. He did not want politics to get in the way of it. But anyone who attends a game in Argentina or follows the national team sees the Malvinas banners and allusions to the Falklands war in 1982. Diego Maradona channelled it in his performance against England at the Azteca four years later.

Argentina games are, generally, feisty. Emotions always spill over, as we’ve seen already against Algeria and Egypt. But this promises to be another level and keeping them in check, if that’s possible, will be a challenge.

This is a team with a tremendous sense of belief. In addition to winning the World Cup in dramatic circumstances four years ago, Argentina have won and retained the Copa America. They are used to winning. They never know they’re beaten. This Seleccion is about mentality and magic.

James Horncastle

Who is the star player for each team?

Has there ever been a more obvious answer for Argentina’s star player? Messi’s talent needs no introduction but the sheer scale of responsibility that he takes in his team’s attack is something to behold.

Messi has taken 19 per cent of Argentina’s total touches in the final third this summer, shouldering 33 per cent of their chances created and 33 per cent of their total shots. All roads lead to the mercurial magician, still fighting his way through traffic to burst beyond opposition defenders. Stop Messi and you go a long way to stopping Argentina.

England boast two star players in Kane and Bellingham. If forced to choose between them, you would have to say that this is growing into Bellingham’s tournament. The 23-year-old’s influence transcends goals.

The driving runs, the gritty tackling and the quick feet to evade opposition pressure. Bellingham’s performances are making others better around him, which is the highest compliment you can pay to a world-class player.

Mark Carey

Is there any history in this match-up?

Where to start?

This will be the sixth game between the two countries at the World Cup, and maybe the biggest of them all. The first was a 3-1 group stage win for England in Chile in 1962. Then there was the infamously tempestuous quarter-final at Wembley in 1966, when Argentina captain Antonio Rattin was sent off in the first half for dissent. England manager Alf Ramsey was so furious with Argentina’s conduct that after the game — which England won 1-0 — that he stopped his players from swapping shirts and called the Argentina players “animals”.

Twenty years later, there was the quarter-final at the Azteca in Mexico City, one of the most famous World Cup games. Maradona scored twice, the first a handball known as the ‘Hand of God’, the second a goal of supreme technical brilliance, as Argentina won 2-1 and went on to win the trophy.

Diegp Maradona scores the ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986 (Allsport/Getty Images)

In 1998, there was another classic in the last 16 in Saint-Etienne. Known for Michael Owen’s brilliant solo goal and then David Beckham’s red card, 10-man England clung on to a 2-2 draw, only for Argentina to win on penalties.

There was a degree of redemption four years later when they met in the group stage in Sapporo. Beckham scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot. The two teams have not met in a competitive match since.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Where will the game be won and lost?

Look out for Argentina’s set pieces.

Including penalties, no nation has scored more than their six from dead-ball situations, and a breakdown of their targeted corner locations is revealing. Messi is the chief set-piece taker and will often target the near post to find a team-mate to glance their header towards goal.

Alexis Mac Allister’s finish against Switzerland was a perfect example of the executed sequence, so England should be on high alert to get first contact when the cross is delivered.

With the individual quality of Messi, Alvarez, Kane and Bellingham, the game could be decided on a moment of individual quality — but England could look to expose Argentina’s back line on the occasions they leave gaps.

Argentina do not typically press aggressively but their defensive partnership of Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero do tend to jump out from their defensive line to get touch-tight to their opposition forwards.

This leaves the opportunity for another attacker or midfielder to exploit the space left behind, as shown with two examples in Argentina’s quarter-final with Switzerland.

They are the exact runs that Bellingham likes to make beyond a defence and could prove to be a decisive factor when England are looking to break Argentina down.

Mark Carey

Who do our experts think will win?

Jack Pitt-Brooke: England 3 Argentina 2. This game is hard to predict because both teams can be both brilliant and fragile within the same game. I just wonder whether England will have the physical edge and they might grind Argentina down in the end.

Mark Carey: England 1 Argentina 2 AET. This game will be cagey for long periods and I can see it going to extra time with the scoreline locked at 1-1. It could go either way, but my prediction is that a moment of Messi magic might just edge things in a decisive moment. Goodness knows he has done it before.

Amelie Claydon: England 1 Argentina 1 AET (England win on penalties). Argentina have rarely played with sustained fluency and still rely heavily on Messi to turn slow possession into a clear chance. England should try to raise the tempo, press Argentina’s midfield, and make their older players cover more ground than they would like. The longer the game lasts, the more England’s athleticism and options from the bench should begin to tell.

Phil Hay: England 2 Argentina 1. The potential is there for Wednesday’s semi to be the tie of the tournament. The history behind this match-up is ferocious, the intensity and pressure will be wild, and the best way of picking a winner is to toss a coin. But Argentina have been limping through somewhat. Fine margins here and there could easily have sent them home early. If England push a fast tempo, denying Messi the freedom to walk around as happily as he likes to, they’ve got the players and the stamina to edge it. And I reckon they will.

Colin Millar: England 2 Argentina 3. Argentina have scored two goals or more in each of their last 12 World Cup games while England have been remarkably efficient in front of goal this tournament. This has the ingredients of a classic match: it is likely to be the semi-final which is lower on overall quality but with attacking talent outweighing defensive solidity, it will be an unmissable watch.

Nick Miller: England 4-3 Argentina. Two teams who have rarely looked impressive but here they are; this feels like a battle of who can contain the other side’s talisman. The trouble is, neither have shown much evidence they can do that with merely good players, so how they will do against Messi and Bellingham will send shivers down the spine of defensive connoisseurs everywhere. And that’s the reason I think it’s going to be a fairly chaotic thriller, with England winning by the odd goal in seven. Cue a stultifying 0-0 and Emiliano Martinez doing his thing for Argentina in the penalty shootout.

Emiliano Martinez makes a strong stop from Virgil van Dijk’s penalty at the last World Cup (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images)

Dermot Corrigan: England 3-2 Argentina. Both these teams have progressed this far through tremendous force of will and individual genius, which makes predicting what will happen on Wednesday even more difficult. Argentina have played more minutes though and with each game, it’s getting more and more difficult for Messi to continue to defy time and logic. England’s greater squad depth should count in their favour, and Bellingham looks the most likely match-winner in what could be another historic thriller.

How might they line up?

Tell me one thing about England that’s going to make me look clever to my friends

A remarkable statistic from England’s summer is that all of their 13 goals have been scored by players who did not play in the Premier League last season.

Granted, the only three players who have found the back of the net are Kane (Bayern Munich), Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Rashford (Barcelona, loan), but it shows how cultured England’s squad has become compared with previous World Cup iterations.

Kane has been having quite the tournament but England’s captain has the opportunity to become the most-capped outfield England player when he takes to the field on Wednesday, overtaking Wayne Rooney (120 caps) to reach 121 caps.

Already England’s all-time top goalscorer, it will not be long before Kane surpasses goalkeeper Peter Shilton’s record total of 125 caps.

Tell me one thing about Argentina that’s going to make me look clever to my friends

Most teams typically look to the wide areas of the pitch when constructing their attack. Pacy wingers and tricky dribblers get most joy when they have space on the flanks, allowing them to drive towards goal or cross dangerously into the box.

When your best player sets up camp centrally between the opposition lines, you funnel the ball towards him. That has been the case for Argentina, who have a rather narrow attack that finds Messi between the width of the penalty area. No nation has a higher share of their attacking touches in the middle third of the pitch (34 per cent), with Argentina sharing their attack evenly across the pitch.

Width is often provided from their full-backs — typically Nicolas Tagliafico at left-back — but there are times when things can get a little congested when Argentina attack. Fortunately, Messi can find space in a phone box but on the occasions he is crowded out, the threat from wide areas is no always guaranteed.

Mark Carey

Who is the referee?

Referee appointments are becoming so political that we should not be surprised that an American referee of African heritage has been chosen to officiate a World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina, a fixture laden with political history.

Ismail Elfath is of Moroccan descent and moved to the U.S after winning a diversity visa lottery aged 18.

Now an American citizen, he has an impressive CV. He reffed the under-20 World Cup final in 2016, at a Club World Cup, the 2020 Olympics (in 2021) and an Africa Cup of Nations.

He has refereed several matches involving Argentina captain Messi since his move to the MLS in 2023, most recently, Inter Miami’s 4-2 win against Orlando City in March. Orlando’s Colin Guske was sent off in that match for a push on Messi while already booked. Elfath is one of only two referees, of those to take charge of five or more games involving Messi, where the Argentina star has a 100 per cent win rate. The other is Eric Wattellier, of France.

Ismael Elfath speaking to Messi and his Argentina and Inter Miami team-mate De Paul during an MLS match earlier this year (Dustin Markland/Getty Images)

Elfath’s first big call at this tournament was to send off Agustin Canobbio of Uruguay for an ugly challenge in stoppage time on Pau Cubarsi. The decision was rightly accepted but then it was back in the day when red cards were less, erm, political.

In Brazil v Norway, he needed the VAR’s help to spot Kristoffer Ajer’s foul on Matheus Cunha in the box, which was a forgivable error given his position and angle. He would have suspected Ajer got a toe on the ball.

Brazil’s second penalty late on, when Leo Ostigard was penalised after catching Casemiro with his elbow, was a poor call that would have attracted more negative coverage had Norway not been 2-0 up with only a minute to play.

All the previous three England-Argentina match-ups at World Cups have involved refereeing decisions that left both sides with a sense of grievance.

Rudolf Kreitlein (West Germany) sent off Argentina captain Antonio Rattin in 1966, Ali Ben Nasser (Tunisia) missed the ‘Hand of God’ in 1986, Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark) sent off David Beckham for “violent conduct” in 1998, and Pierluigi Collina (Italy) gave England the softest of penalties when Michael Owen threw himself to the ground in 2002.

Let’s hope the name Elfath is not added to the list and that the better team wins, fair and square.

Graham Scott

Who will the winners play?

The victors in Atlanta will face Spain in the final, whichwill be played at MetLife Stadium in New York, New Jersey on Sunday, July 19, with kick-off at 12pm PT/3pm ET/8pm BST.

Essential reading before kick-off