Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 3:57am

Argentina has delivered England its latest World Cup heartbreak, scoring twice at the death to win 2-1 in a gripping semifinal in Atlanta.

After a tense and fractious first half, Anthony Gordon opened the scoring for England following a sublime move down the right side.

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Having gone ahead, England retreated into their shells, allowing wave after wave of Argentine attack to break against the defence.

Enzo Fernández's long-range screamer drew the defending champions level, before Lautaro Martínez's nodded home a 92nd minute header from an inch-perfect Lionel Messi cross to seal the win.

The win marks the fourth time Argentina has had to fight back late to secure a victory at this World Cup, following extra-time wins over Cabo Verde and Switzerland, either side of a controversial come-from-behind win against Egypt.

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"We are unique," Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. 

"It's not arrogance, it is all heart.

"[It's] A great happiness for our country and our people, and another great happiness for this group who just do not know when they are beaten."

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Argentina were well worth their win, with Alexis Mac Allister hitting both posts and Jordan Pickford pulling off a magical save as England wilted under the relentless pressure.

Messi was key to Argentina turning around the contest, completing nine dribbles and assisting both goals — the first player on record to complete those types of numbers in a single FIFA World Cup knockout game.

After fiercely contested opening in which Argentina deployed the dark arts to their maximum, hitting English players late off the ball, earning warnings from the referee but no cards.

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There was not a single shot in the contest until the 37th minute, and not a single shot on target in the first half.

The contest opened up after Gordon's fine finish at the back post, latching onto a Reece James cross with a perfectly-timed run, but as soon as England scored, Djed Spence had to pull off a sensational tackle to deny Giuliano Simeone and from that point on, England were on the defensive. 

"We're disappointed. We were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances," England boss Thomas Tuchel said.

"They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air.

"We couldn't win any balls, we couldn't keep the ball, so I think it was not a structural problem. We changed nothing. But the match changed completely.

"It's no problem. I can understand these discussions are out there and there are millions of coaches after the game who know it better."

It is Argentina's sixth win out of six at this stage of the World Cup, while England has lost its last three semifinal appearances.

England are the only side in the 21st century to give up a lead in a World Cup semifinal and lose — and they have now done it twice after their 2-1 defeat against Croatia in 2018.

Look back on how all the action unfolded in our live blog.

Live updates

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 4:58am

Updates: England vs Argentina

SBy Simon Smale

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Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:59am

Time to say goodbye

SBy Simon Smale

Well, another dramatic semifinal in the books and now we know who will contest the final in New Jersey on Monday (AEST).

Argentina and Spain will meet in the decider, Argentina going for back-to-back wins, Spain looking to return to the summit for the first time since 2010.

It is the first time the reigning UEFA European champions will take on the reigning South American COMNEBOL champions in a World Cup final.

Something to look forward to.

England and France, meanwhile, will dust themselves off for the third-place play off in the Miami sauna on Sunday (AEST).

ABC Sport will live blog both games, as well as a full analysis of today's match and all the build-up.

Thanks once again for joining me.

We'll speak to you next time.

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:45am

Brutal scenes at Wembley Box Park

SBy Simon Smale

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:36am

Joy around the world for Argentina

SBy Simon Smale

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:34am

England fans know this feeling well

SBy Simon Smale

Doesn't make it any easier to handle, though.

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:26am

'We felt them going backwards': Martínez

SBy Simon Smale

Some more Argentinian reaction now.

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez has been speaking to BBC Sport.

"It was crazy. I thought we played really well in the first half. We dominated them," he says."We know how strong they are in set pieces and how physical they are. I've played there [in England] for 16 years and I know them really well."We moved the ball well. They went in front with one cross into the box with only one [player] in the box and they scored."We had the experience of coming back from losing positions. They started defending a little bit deeper and that gave us a bit of an advantage through the lines."Getting [Lionel] Messi on the wing was the key for us."We felt [the momentum swing]."We felt them going backwards and backwards rather than going forward."Sometimes when you are winning, you have to go forward anyway. You can't change the game plan. I think they did it and they put extra defenders."

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:23am

Some more of your thoughts

SBy Simon Smale

Shattered for England. They did everything right for that first goal, but afterwards, you just can’t play like that against Messi and expect to keep a clean sheet and win the game. Far too much space given for that first Argentine goal. England should not have been willing to give Argentina the chance to get a comeback like they’ve done in all their previous games. Still, great tournament from the Three Lions. They’ll be back next time.- Kyle
It was apparent that in the last minutes that Argentina lifted their level of performance and England couldn't do the same. One great Argentinian goal attempt unluckily hit the post, but Messi chased and retrieved it, unchallenged. He kicked it back in front of goal and the rest is history.- Merv
Had England been 2-0 up I could understand the defensive posture but not when only mere goal up and certainly not so early in the game. Sad. I feel for England and English fans but this outcome was largely self-imposed. Incredibly frustrating.- Old Timer

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:17am

A damning statistic for England

SBy Simon Smale

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:14am

'We are unique': Scaloni

SBy Simon Smale

Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has been speaking to reporters.

"Well, I'm lost for words. A great happiness for our country and our people," he says."And another great happiness for this group who just do not know when they are beaten."I can tell them that we are going to try to win, we're going to leave it all out there, but the truth is that to do this is very difficult."It's very difficult for people to understand what our players have given. It is so impressive."We are unique. It's not arrogance, it is all heart."Today so many people arrived here to support us and for that I am truly grateful. This shirt merits us giving absolutely everything possible until the very end. To not spare anything at all."

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:08am

'When you get that close to the World Cup final, that hurts': Burn

SBy Simon Smale

England defender Dan Burn has been speaking to the BBC in the wake of the defeat.

"Absolutely gutted. I thought we had the game plan pretty well for the majority of it. But obviously, when we scored, we went a bit passive and dropped off and were ultimately punished for it," he says."We probably conceded too many chances and if you do that, they are going to get goals."Disappointing from us. We have defended games better and seen them out."When you get that close to the World Cup final, that hurts."

He said that "the majority" of teams would fall back into a defensive pattern after scoring and that it was "human nature a little bit".

He says that he doesn't know what it would take for England to take the next step.

"I wish I had the answer for that. I am very, very proud of what we've done this tournament," he says."Honestly, I thought we were going to do it. I had that feeling. Really thought we had something going."It's really fine margins in this level of football. Argentina have been there and done it and it probably showed."

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:04am

'No regrets' for Tuchel

SBy Simon Smale

Here's more from England coach Thomas Tuchel.

"You can discuss this with a million coaches [but] I have to make a decision on the pitch," he says of his changes."I analysed the match and I did it a certain way, so that's my responsibility."In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close. We deserved to be up 1-0."We played one of our better matches, maybe our best match in the circumstances. The team was top, we couldn't get over the line but no regrets."I think we saw the mentality throughout the match and the strong group."We played the matches how they were, we played against strong teams in the group, travelled a lot of miles, played at altitude, we played with 10 men, we played in the heat and we overcame every obstacle."We were very close today. It's not the moment to analyse the full tournament, we just went out because we lost a crucial match."

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 8:02am

Lautaro Martínez hails 'emotional' goal

SBy Simon Smale

Lautaro Martínez has been speaking to the media after the game for Argentina.

The scorer of the winning goal is overcome with emotion.

"This is really emotional," Martínez said."The first time my dad bought me a pair of boots, I always dreamed of scoring this goal. It was really tough today."Enzo scored a brilliant goal and I'm confident this team is continuing to show what it’s made of."

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 7:58am

Argentina players wave Falklands banner after victory

SBy Simon Smale

Argentina players have held up a political banner declaring "Las Malvinas Son Argentinas" ("The Falklands are Argentine") in the aftermath of their 2-1 victory over England, in an apparent contravention of FIFA rules.

Lisandro Martínez and Giovani Lo Celso held up the banner and waved to fans in the stands. It was unclear where the banner had come from.

FIFA's Stadium Code of Conduct bans "banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature" inside stadiums.

World soccer's ruling body did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters.

The question of sovereignty over the islands in the South Atlantic known to the British as the Falklands and the Argentines as the Malvinas has been a long-running sore in relations between the countries.

They fought a short conflict over the islands in 1982, in which 649 Argentine soldiers and 255 British combatants died. Britain ultimately won and the vast majority of the islands' residents have said they want to be part of Britain.

But Argentina has long claimed it inherited the islands from Spain ​after its independence in 1816 and that Britain took control in 1833 through an illegal colonial act.

It is not the first time the question of political banners has come up during the World Cup.

Last month in Los Angeles when Iran played, Iranian Americans waved pre-revolutionary flags that are symbols of protest against the Tehran government. Those matches proceeded without incident.

FIFA has said that it will only issue fines for bringing the game into disrepute after the tournament has concluded.

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 7:53am

'There are millions of coaches after the game who know it better': Tuchel

SBy Simon Smale

England coach Thomas Tuchel has been speaking to the BBC.

"We're disappointed. We were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances," Tuchel said."We could not turn the ball possession around and then conceded so many crosses, chances and shots."We were close but couldn't keep the level up after we scored."

Tuchel's tactics and his substitutions have already been heavily criticised.

He said that he responded to what he saw in front of him.

"I did also offensive substitutions in the last games. We just tried to help the players. We conceded [a chance] straight away and we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open," he said."They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air."Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances, so we tried to help."Of course, the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn't go well, it is easy to say it was wrong."

He says England wanted to go for the second goal, but just couldn't get possession.

"It doesn't help if you can't get the ball. We couldn't get out," he said."Of course, we wanted to go for the second goal but I did not have the feeling that offensive substitutions would help."We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, more and more passive."We couldn't win any balls, we couldn't keep the ball, so I think it was not a structural problem. We changed nothing. But the match changed completely."It's no problem. I can understand these discussions are out there and there are millions of coaches after the game who know it better."

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 7:48am

The England stat that tells the raw truth

SBy Simon Smale

From the moments after Anthony Gordon's opening goal in the 55th minute to Lautaro Martínez's winner in the 92nd, England had just 12 per cent possession.

It's an astonishing statistic, in truth.

For over a third of the game, Argentina absolutely dominated, hit the post twice, had Jordan Pickford make two astonishing saves and scored two goals.

All thoroughly deserved.

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 7:44am

Thomas Tuchel's tactics questioned

SBy Simon Smale

We all knew that as soon as things went south, the manager would cop some criticism.

And Thomas Tuchel's tactics in the second half of that game have been questioned by the pundits in the UK.

"Tactically, we all thought he got it wrong today," Micah Richards said on the BBC."When we went to five at the back. I thought we could have kept the momentum going and brought on wingers."Ultimately, we didn't have the answers."

Wayne Rooney also stuck the boot in.

"Once we got the first goal, we didn't look to go for the second goal," he says on the BBC."For the players, and for me, Thomas Tuchel made the decision and when you make the decision, it is a gamble."The gamble he made was to go with five at the back, which allowed them to dictate the game."The decisions that Tuchel has made cost us tonight."

That is, I think it's fair to say, very reasonable criticism.

But I also think that in every other game this tournament Tuchel has got his tactics, his substitutes and his decisions in-game absolutely spot on.

It might be worth keeping that in mind as the knives come out in the wake of this defeat.

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 7:34am

Sensational six for Argentina in World Cup semifinals

SBy Simon Smale

England have lost their last three World Cup semifinals.

Argentina are now six from six at this stage of World Cups.

It's an astonishing record that speaks so highly of their ability to push through under intense pressure.

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 7:32am

'To fall short is just gutting': Harry Kane

SBy Simon Smale

Harry Kane has been speaking to the BBC.

"Gutted for the boys," he says."Gutted for everyone; the team, the staff, the fans."We played a good game the large majority of it. When we went 1-0 up we seemed to try and hold on, which at this level is not enough."Just gutted because we've worked so hard to be here and the lads have given every last bit of running, blood, sweat, tears."To fall short is just gutting."

He says that England just couldn't cope with the pressure Argentina were putting on them in the second half.

"We struggled to get pressure on the ball," he says."Whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave."Lads were putting blocks in but, in the end, it just wasn't enough."

He says it's not about it being one game too far and the messaging after the first goal was to go and get another one, even if it didn't look like that.

"Once they scored their two goals [the message] was to try and find something, but we couldn't quite get the momentum back in the game," he says.

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 7:28am

Magical Messi

SBy Simon Smale

Additionally, Messi now has 12 assists in FIFA World Cup matches, including the two he got today.

Of those, 10 have come in knockout rounds.

No other player on record (from 1966) has more than eight in total at the World Cup finals.

Thu 16 Jul 2026 at 7:28am

Argentina, and Lionel Messi, far too good to hold out

SBy Simon Smale

Any team that's got a 1 goal lead and thinks they can play defensively against a team like Argentina for 40 minutes and keep the ball out of their goalmouth has rocks in its head.- Martin

England's magisterial display against Mexico at the Azteca was a miracle.

I don't blame them for thinking they could try and harness that backs-against-the-wall spirit again here.

But Mexico doesn't have a player like Messi.

Source: ABC News (AU)