England v Argentina live: Stunning comeback from Argentina puts them in World Cup final

World Cup semi-final: England 1 (Gordon 55) Argentina 2 (Fernandez 86, Lautaro Martinez 90+3)

England: Pickford; James (Burn 82), Stones (Toney 90), Guehi, Spence (Rashford 90); Rice (O’Reilly 82), Anderson, Bellingham; Gordon (Konsa 72), Kane, Rogers

Argentina: E Martinez; Molina (Montiel 72), Romero, Licha Martinez (Otamendi 72), Tagliafico (Lautaro Martinez 82); Parades (Gonzalez 65), Mac Allister, Fernandez; Simeone (De Paul 72), Messi, Alvarez

Here is Ken Early’s report, scathing about Tuchel’s tactics:

[ Ken Early: Thomas Tuchel’s all-time bottle job hands Argentina World Cup final placeOpens in new window ]

A tale of two managers and styles. Tuchel’s defensive substitutions have to be questioned, they gave the impetus to Argentina. With all the talent that they have, caution has killed England again.

Some scuffle involving Bellingham, Rogers, Toney and other players at the end.

A third World Cup final for Messi, who was good tonight again. Could a third player of the tournament as well? His first game against England is a winning one. A tougher task awaits in the final against Spain though, who won’t sit back and defend like that.

101 mins: Burn is penalised for a tussle with Martinez. That should be it you’d think.

Full-time: England 1 Argentina 2

Argentina are in the final! Stunning scenes. Enzo in tears, Messi jubilant.

99 mins: Clever play by Messi to win a free-kick, he’s spent, and then England are giving it socks to the referee, but it’s not much good now.

Messi going to the corner flag, couldn’t hold the ball. It’s 101 minutes now and Anderson kicks it long. Burn tries to get to it, you’d think the game would be up.

98 mins: Pickford kicks it long over everyone and Burn tries to launch himself at it but Martinez has it comfortably. Less than two minutes left.

96 mins: Last throw of the dice for England, Rashford and Toney on for some of their many defenders.

94 mins: Mac Allister hits the post again! This time a great shot from the edge of the box.

But it’s only delaying the inevitable!

GOAL FOR ARGENTINA! Lautaro Martinez gets a header at the back post. Messi with the cross, who else. What a moment.

England 1 Argentina 2

Seems like gamesmanship for Stones to waste two or three minutes, to try some of the momentum. Nine minutes of stoppage time.

89 mins: The stadium is electric now with Argentina fans, what will Tuchel do now after bringing on so many defenders? Messi on the right wing, England just about clear it.

85 mins: Messi starting to look a little tired, and he hits some sort of cross-shot that isn’t too far away from the goal but goes wide.

Then another brilliant save by Pickford! From 30 yards, Enzo hits a rocket and the Everton keep saves.

Goal for Argentina! Second time around, he doesn’t miss. Enzo scores another long-range attempt, more curl on this one. Brilliant strike, set up by Messi.

England 1 Argentina 1

81 mins: England backs to the wall as Argentina bring on another weapon, Lautaro Martinez for the last 10 minutes. Argentina putting in several threatening crosses.

England setting up to park the bus even further with big Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly on. Reece James and Declan Rice come off.

79 mins: Wow, a massive chance again for Argentina, Messi ball to the back post and Gonzalez heads it inches wide. It was given offside but the replay shows it might have counted. England hanging on.

76 mins: England sitting back now, looking to hold onto the 1-0 lead.

Massive chance! De Paul puts in a brilliant cross and Mac Allister should score but his header smashes off the post. Six-yards out, hits the inside of the post. So close.

Hydration break.

Argentina bring on three subs after it - De Paul, Montiel and Otamendi come on. Tuchel makes a very defensive sub - Gordon off for centre-back Konsa.

69 mins: Messi getting more involved in what is a great second half in comparison to the first. He makes one of his typical dribbles and a good pass to Gonzalez who messes it up but they win a corner. Then it’s cleared but a few moments later it’s another corner. This time headed out by Stones.

Then a sensational cross by Messi right into the six-yard box with whip and Pickford makes a great save low from a Gonzalez header.

67 mins: More great defending by England. Clever ball by Messi to the back post, Gonzalez heads back to Tagliafico but Stones is there with a great defensive header.

Then a great ball by Kane, who is getting increasingly involved to Rogers, he plays it back to Rice, who has an opening, but his shot is lacking in power.

65 mins: Messi picks the ball up deep and tries to one-two his way, but England’s low block on the edge of their box is hard to get through.

First sub of the game by Argentina, Paredes off, Nico Gonzalez on.

62 mins: Nervy play from England, Pickford with a losose pass and Messi was in that dangerous area on the edge of the box, he couldn’t get space for a shot though. Kane ended up getting it out. Fernandez takes a long shot but it’s well over the bar.

Here is Gordon’s goal:

58 mins: Brilliant tackle by Spence! Channeling Bobby Moore as Argentina have one of their best attacks so far and Simeone is in the box in space ready to shoot and Spence comes flying in with a fantastic recovery tackle.

55 mins: GOAL FOR ENGLAND! Anthony Gordon scores. Kane came deep and Tagliafico clears it poorly, Rogers puts in a great cross and Gordon is ahead of Molina at the back post to score.

England 1 Argentina 0

54 mins: Good spell for Argentina with sharp passing, Molina drills a low cross but cleared away. Alvarez getting more involved.

53 mins: Romero was almost caught out with a sloppy pass to him, but manages to evade the press brilliantly of Gordon and Bellingham to escape. A not so good moment straight after as he picks up a yellow card for a cynical foul.

50 mins: Spence has been one of England’s best players and he goes down the line and puts a good, low cross but Kane nowhere to be seen. He’s been very quiet so far, but obviously capable of scoring in a split second.

47 mins: Chance for Argentina! Long ball upfield, Simeone wins the header and Alvarez takes a powerful shot, well saved at Pickford’s near post.

Half-time: England 0 Argentina 0

A memorable game so far, but not for footballing reasons. Fouls, tackles, disrupting play, very little incident in attack for either side. Given the stakes, it’s worth watching, but if it was a standard Premier League game, you wouldn’t be dying to turn on the second half. But it’s the World Cup and legacies are set by small moments. Can Messi pull another rabbit out of the bag?

45 mins: Some good tackling and intercepting, Messi dispossessed by Anderson, then a promising Bellingham run is cut off by Romero.

42 mins: Careful, slow possession by Argentina but Rice intercepts Messi’s pass and Martinez pulls Rogers jersey and gets a yellow card.

38 mins: Reece James’ free-kick is palmed away by Martinez then a bit of a scramble but Argentina clear. Then Argentina counter after Rice gives away the ball, and Messi lights up with a dribble, going past Kane and Gordon, before Anderson smashes him. The first yellow of the game in the 38th minute.

Then a short free-kick and Messi’s shot is blocked, and so close for Argentina! Enzo with a long-range shot which just goes over the bar.

36 mins: Another long ball goes well for England and Kane tries to round Martinez to get through in the box, but Martinez tackles well. England growing into the game though. Bellingham wins another free-kick in a dangerous area, this time just outside the box on the left.

32 mins: Great run by Bellingham to try to rise above the noise, and unsurprisingly he’s fouled before he can get too close to goal. But it’s a free-kick in a dangerous area, where Rice finds Stones at the back post, and it’s chance. He heads it wide.

28 mins: Poor play from Messi, we don’t see that too often. Alvarez just outside the box would have found Fernandez in space, but Messi gets in the way and miscontrols it out of play.

It’s the hydration break

Maybe the referee can have a look for the yellow cards he left in his dressingroom.

22 mins: It’s been an enthralling game in it’s own way, just so different from last night. Alvarez puts in a decent cross and Messi tries to chest it into Fernandez but couldn’t get it into his path.

18 mins: Spence has got a lot of the ball so far, again he tries to find his way through but Fernandez covers well to shepherd it out of play. No shots on target yet.

16 mins: Good break for England, with multiple players running through, but Gordon went into trouble and lost it, then Argentina countered, James was sloppy on it and lost the ball not paying attention but Argentina’s cross was too deep. Finally a bit of football breaking out.

14 mins: Messi moves to the right to get some space and hits a pass in behind to Simeone but it’s offside. More niggle as Simeone picks the ball up for some reason and Pickford bashes it from his hand, then Simeone falls over. Simeone heavily involved so far in the scrappy moments, son of Diego.

11 mins: Copa America-style match so far, pass, pass, foul, pass, pass, foul. Argentina won’t mind that. Anderson gets his revenge on Enzo, flying into a tackle with him. More tackling than football so far. Messi has barely touched the ball.

8 mins: Anderson down again after being kicked by Simeone this time. Good long ball by Pickford and Rogers does well against Tagliafico and wins a corner. Rice’s corner is cleared away, but Stones falls to the ground with Simeone, nothing given.

5 mins: Enzo Fernandez smashes into Anderson, who is holding his head after his head and already we have a scuffle, this is gonna be a spicy game.

Spence does well down the left and goes by three players down the wing, but Romero makes a great recovery challenge to stop him.

2 mins: Paredes pushes Bellingham in the back early on, setting the standard. Both teams easing their way into the game.

The teams are going out on the field. Shay Given on RTÉ says “if the Argentinians are going out, they’re taking a few English players with them”. He expects a fiesty encounter. Cristian Romero certainly has form for one.

Booing the national anthems, classic.

A fierce rendition by the Argentinians. Paredes looks like he’s ready for war.

Jonathan Liew writes about the England v Argentina rivalry:

Too different and distant to be friends; too entwined and alike to be purely enemies; neither a clash of pure equals nor a simple parable of coloniser versus colonised. Perhaps this is why Argentina v England has a fair claim to be the greatest and most romantic of the footballing rivalries, less a blood feud and more a messy, century-long breakup. Look beyond the flashpoints and flare-ups, and there is something more profound at work here. The teeth-baring may as well be a mark of respect: a shared and illicit admiration, perhaps even a love that dare not speak its name.

[ Argentina v England: The greatest and most romantic of the footballing rivalries?Opens in new window ]

Here is Ken Early’s preview of tonight’s game:

“How do we keep forgetting that a football match is not a race? (And that even a race is not always to the swift . . .)

“Yes, England have the speed and the strength . . . but Argentina have Messi! France were the stronger and faster team in the last World Cup final but it was Messi that made the difference."

[ Ken Early: England being favourites against Argentina shows we can’t resist thinking of football in simple termsOpens in new window ]

The teams are out! A few interesting calls there, Spence as left-back, James as right-back and the previously mentioned Rogers as right wing. Argentina go for Molina at right-back, and Giuliano Simeone comes in on the right for pace to stretch the England defence.

England: Pickford; James, Stones, Guehi, Spence; Rice, Anderson, Bellingham; Gordon, Kane, Rogers

Argentina: E Martinez; Molina, Romero, L Martinez, Tagliafico; Parades, Mac Allister, Fernandez; Simeone, Messi, Alvarez

Listen to America 2026 where they discuss this game, from the tagline:

“Now that Jude Bellingham has established himself as the squad’s main man, will his clashes with Thomas Tuchel and his coaching staff prove England’s undoing? Or is it precisely the kind of kinetic charge that carries a side all the way? Miguel Delaney has the inside track, having shadowed England throughout the tournament. Kevin Kilbane also knows more than a thing or two about dressing-room scuffles between big personalities.

Morgan Rogers is set to start on the right for England for the first time in this tournament, according to David Ornstein from the Athletic. The tinkering continues on the right for England, with Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka and now Rogers starting games there. The rest of the team is relatively settled, although it will be interesting to see if James returns to play right-back. The official teams will be out soon.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the second World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Spain are through to the final after a comprehensive victory over many people’s favourites France in the first semi-final.

It’s a great opportunity for England to join them there and recreate the Euros final from two years ago. But the defending champions Argentina stand in their way and arguably the greatest of all-time Lionel Messi won’t go down without a fight. There is so much history behind this game, from the Falklands War to Diego Maradona’s Hand of God to David Beckham’s red card, but strangely the two teams haven’t played each other since 2005. It is also Messi’s first game against England.

This should be a cracker. Kickoff is at 8pm.

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