"England and Argentina are the great football nations of the world in terms of passion. Few teams, few nations, have such a desperate desire to succeed on the football field. You see it in the crowds. The fans are not as passionate in Spain, Italy or Germany. They don't go to away matches in anything like the same numbers. And, talking of blood, they spill more of it in England and Argentina where football violence has traditionally been greater than anywhere else, where - even when there is no violence - you look at fans' faces during a game and you sense that the feelings they are experiencing during those 90 minutes are the one truly significant thing in their lives." - Roberto Perfumo. FT: England 1 - 2 Argentina Info Details Competition 2026 FIFA World Cup, Semifinals Date Wed, July 15, 2026 Venue Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Referee Ismail Elfath England (4-2-3-1) Starting XI Notes Subs Notes Jordan Pickford Jordan Henderson Marc Guéhi Noni Madueke John Stones 🔄 off 90'+6' Eberechi Eze Djed Spence 🔄 off 90'+6' Ollie Watkins Reece James 🔄 off 82' Bukayo Saka Jude Bellingham Trevoh Chalobah Elliot Anderson 🟨 37' James Trafford Declan Rice 🔄 off 82' Dan Burn 🔄 on 82' Harry Kane Dean Henderson Anthony Gordon ⚽ 55' · 🔄 off 72' Marcus Rashford 🔄 on 90'+6' Morgan Rogers Ivan Toney 🔄 on 90'+6' Ezri Konsa 🔄 on 72' Kobbie Mainoo Nico O'Reilly 🔄 on 82' Argentina (4-1-4-1) Starting XI Notes Subs Notes Emiliano Martínez Gonzalo Montiel 🔄 on 72' Lisandro Martínez 🟨 42' · 🔄 off 72' Lautaro Martínez 🔄 on 81' · ⚽ 90'+2' Cristian Romero 🟨 51' Marcos Senesi Leandro Paredes 🔄 off 64' Facundo Medina Nicolás Tagliafico 🔄 off 81' Nico González 🔄 on 64' Nahuel Molina 🔄 off 72' Juan Musso Alexis Mac Allister Valentín Barco Enzo Fernández ⚽ 85' Gerónimo Rulli Julián Álvarez Giovani Lo Celso Giuliano Simeone 🔄 off 72' Nicolás Otamendi 🔄 on 72' Lionel Messi Nico Paz Thiago Almada Exequiel Palacios Rodrigo De Paul 🔄 on 72' · 🟨 90'+4' José Manuel López MATCH STATS Stat England Argentina Expected Goals 0.53 1.84 Possession 36% 64% Shots on Goal 2 (40%) 5 (33%) Big Chances Created 1 3 Big Chances Missed 0 2 Accurate Passes 272 (84%) 537 (91%) Duels Won 49 52 Saves 3 1 Fouls Committed 11 15 FULL MATCH REPORT: FIFA: Argentina come back from brink to set up Spain showdown. Holders Argentina fought back from the brink to beat England and advance to Sunday's FIFA World Cup 2026™ final against Spain. Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez, with the help of two Lionel Messi assists, struck the late goals in a dramatic turnaround in Atlanta just as England were closing in on their first final in 60 years, following Anthony Gordon's 55th-minute goal. Instead, La Albiceleste, following another comeback to rival their Round of 16 recovery against Egypt, can now look forward to their seventh World Cup final, and stand a step away from retaining their world crown. This eagerly-awaited revival of one of international football’s great rivalries ended with a repeat of the scoreline in the teams' most famous encounter in Mexico City 40 years ago. It certainly began in feisty fashion. It was cagey and intensely contested and not until the 33rd minute did either side produce an attempt on goal. That was when John Stones nodded wide from a Declan Rice free-kick at the far post. At the other end, Fernandez flashed a fierce shot over. Both these teams had had to dig deep to get this far. Both had found moments of inspiration when it was most needed. Julian Alvarez sought to conjure one such moment soon after the restart, getting beyond Djed Spence following a long ball forward and drawing a smart save from Jordan Pickford at his near post. Instead, the breakthrough came at the other end when Morgan Rogers, one of three players brought back into England's starting XI, delivered a terrific low cross from the right. Gordon, arriving at the back post, got in front of Nahuel Molina to steer an excellent controlled finish into the corner of Emiliano Martinez’s goal. Another of the starters reinstated by Thomas Tuchel, Spence made a brilliant goalsaving tackle to deny Giuliano Simeone but the close calls continued as England sat increasingly deep and Argentina's pressure grew. Substitute Nico Gonzalez saw his header foiled by a fine Pickford save, while Alexis Mac Allister headed against the post. Eventually, the pressure told as following a short-corner routine Messi squared the ball to Fernandez and he unleashed a magnificent shot from outside the box that flew past Pickford to his right. STATS AND FACTS Spain vs Argentina will be the first World Cup final in history to feature the reigning Euro and Copa America champions. For the 23rd consecutive time in World Cup history, no foreign manager has been able to win the tournament. Including two today, Lionel Messi now has 12 assists in FIFA World Cup matches, 10 of which have come in knockout rounds. No other player on record (from 1966) has more than eight in total at the finals. There are just two occasions of a team scoring first in the semi-final but not reaching the final of the FIFA World Cup in the 21st century – both of them are England (vs Croatia in 2018 and Argentina in 2026). Argentina have scored five goals from outside the box at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (Lionel Messi x2, Giovani Lo Celso, Julián Alvarez, Enzo Fernández) - the joint-most on record (from 1966) by any side in a single edition. England completed only 2 successful passes in the 18 minutes and 37 seconds between 66:05 and 84:42 against Argentina. POINTS OF DISCUSSION I) Who is to blame for England's second half performance: Everybody is pointing to Tuchel, did he truly did everything wrong or do the players hold the main responsibility for the defeat? Or at the end of the day, both did everything well but they were overwhelmed by a better team? II) Should Tuchel stay for the 2028 Euros?: The control he was given over this England team was absolute but so were the expectations, and even if he had a very good performance so far, it all went south with this semifinal. Should he stay or it is better for all that he ends his tenure now? III) What do you expect of the final? An epic clash between continental champions awaits. What are your predictions? The idea of creating Next-Day Discusion Threads is to offer a platform for those who have seen the match, and inform those who haven't, while also encouraging more in-depth discussion than in the original thread. Low quality comments will be autoremoved and the thread will be in contest mode, which means that all top comments will appear in random order, so that every commenter has a chance to get the spotlight. Here is a link to the original Post-Match Thread.   submitted by   /u/LordVelaryon [link]   [comments]