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The World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina on Wednesday night is a big deal for English football not only because it could make it to the final for the first time in 60 years. According to many sports experts, this is one of the most fundamental confrontations in the history of world football and the most important match in the entire life of the current generation of fans.
Since winning the 1966 Home World Cup, England have only reached the World Cup semi-finals in 1990 and 2018, losing both those matches and the third-place match.
However, the team assembled by English head coach Thomas Tuchel has every chance of breaking this series of failures, experts say.
According to Tuchel, the upcoming match causes a lot of emotions, given the history of relations between the national teams of England and Argentina.
The question is how much the historical animosity of these teams towards each other will help or hinder them from playing quality football.
History of the feud
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Photo caption, In 2022, Lionel Scaloni led Argentina to their third World Cup victory
Relations between England and Argentina have been tense in recent decades, not only in football but also in politics.
One of the most iconic matches in the history of this confrontation remains the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, when Diego Maradona led Argentina to victory over England, first scoring the famous “Hand of God” goal, and then one of the most beautiful goals in the history of world championships.
Speaking on television in 2002, Maradona described the goal as revenge for Argentina’s defeat in the Falklands War, fought in 1982 by Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas, as they are known in Argentina).
The conflict lasted 74 days and claimed the lives of 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and three civilians. Argentina still disputes British sovereignty over the archipelago.
On the eve of the semi-finals in Atlanta, head coach of the Argentina national team Lionel Scaloni said that he did not intend to mix football and politics.
He said he didn’t think it was right to bring historical and political differences onto the football field.
“It’s really just a football match. I don’t intend to confuse these things, primarily out of respect for what happened many years ago. This was a very tragic period in our history, and we can no longer change it,” Scaloni said.
“Today, wars occur in other parts of the world, and we condemn the very fact of their existence. Of course, we remember those people who died then. But this is a football match, and one should not be confused with the other,” said the Argentinean head coach.
However, Argentine Vice President Victoria Villarruel took a completely different position.
“This is not just another match. I’m not going to be politically correct – it’s always more than that against the British. These are Malvinas. This is Diego (Maradona). This is Leo’s last World Championship. And this is an opportunity to put the invaders in their place. Long live Argentina! As long as we breathe, we will take back what is ours!” — Villarruel wrote in X.
Author of the photo, Getty Images
Photo caption, England head coach tries to prevent shirts from being swapped between his team and Argentines after the 1966 World Cup
England also has episodes of political incorrectness towards Argentine rivals.
For example, after a tense quarter-final at the 1966 World Cup, England coach Sir Alf Ramsey banned defender George Coen from exchanging shirts with an Argentina player.
This episode became one of the most striking symbols of the fierce confrontation between the two teams. After England’s 1-0 win, Ramsey was so unhappy with the behavior of the Argentine players that he called them “animals” and forbade his players from making any friendly gestures towards their opponents, including the traditional exchange of shirts.
The head coach of the current England team, Thomas Tuchel, said on the eve of the match that the history of the confrontation with Argentina inevitably gives this World Cup semi-final special significance.
“This is a great rivalry between two great football countries. I could say that history doesn’t matter here, but I’m not sure that’s true. The players understand perfectly well what is behind this match,” Tuchel said. “When the opponents have so many iconic moments in their history, it is impossible to perceive such a game as an ordinary football match.”
This historical context makes the upcoming semi-final special, football observers say.
England have played many great matches over the past six decades. However, beating Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals would be an event that could eclipse many of them.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that security would be heightened at the semi-finals in Atlanta due to historical tensions between the two countries.
Messi factor
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For 39-year-old Lionel Messi, the upcoming meeting will be his first match against England at the World Cup.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is hosting an outstanding tournament. He has eight goals to his name, the same number as French striker Kylian Mbappe.
At the same time, he did 47% of the total distance he covered in matches at this World Cup at a walk – this is the highest figure among all field players in the tournament.
However, it is he who England will fear most. On his shoulders are the hopes of not only his teammates, but also the entire Argentina.
“Messi is something incredible. There are no words left to describe the scale of his achievements, level of skill and leadership qualities. He is a leader and a key player in any team he plays for. This is exactly how he remains in the current Argentine national team,” said England coach Thomas Tuchel.
At the same time, Argentina itself, according to experts, does not yet look as convincing. The team faced serious difficulties in all playoff matches.
In addition to the victory over Egypt, the Argentines needed extra time in matches against Cape Verde in the 1/16 finals and Switzerland, which played almost the entire second half of the quarterfinals with ten men.
According to football experts, the Argentina national team begins to experience problems at the moment when the opponent successfully blocks passes to Messi.
His close marking creates open spaces for other Argentine players, so the best tactic against Messi is to prevent him from gaining possession of the ball.
The Expendables Kane and Bellingham
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Photo caption, Jude Bellingham (left) and Harry Kane have scored six goals each at the World Cup
Flanks and speed are England’s main weapons against Argentina, which plays compactly, experts say.
Argentina rarely allows themselves to be opened up by positional attacks, so it is important for the British to speed up the game immediately after winning the ball and quickly transfer it from one flank to the other, stretching the Argentine defense.
The focus of the world, and especially Argentina’s, will be on England’s numbers 9 and 10 – Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
Kane is his team’s top scorer and one of the best in the tournament, with six goals scored.
Bellingham is the hero of the last two matches, thanks to which England reached the semi-final stage. He scored two goals in a tough match against Mexico in the round of 16 and two more in the quarter-finals against Norway. In total, he, like Kane, had scored six goals at the 2026 World Cup by this time.
Argentine coach Scaloni stated bluntly that his main task was to figure out how to neutralize Kane and Bellingham on the field.
“These are two outstanding football players, one of the best in the world. Any coach would like to have such players on his team,” said the Argentina national team coach, without hiding his admiration.
A battle of psychologies?
Football observers are reluctant to talk about the favorites for the upcoming match. Especially after the first semi-final between France and Spain, in which the French were considered the undisputed favorites, but failed to score a single goal against the Spanish goal.
Each of the teams that will take the field tonight in Atlanta has its own weaknesses and strengths.
With confidence, perhaps, we can only say that the Argentines have an undeniable psychological advantage over the England team.
The Argentines are the current world champions. On the one hand, they need to defend their title, but they already pleased their country four years ago.
They know how to play these types of matches from a psychological point of view. Most of the team’s core has already played in the World Cup finals before.
England, on the other hand, are trying to reach the World Cup final for the first time in 60 years, and that is a huge responsibility.
Having reached the semi-finals, the team gave the British real, not ephemeral, hope.
Author of the photo, Getty Images
Throughout the week since the quarter-finals, football’s pioneers, young and old, wear red and white in the colors of the flag and chant “It’s coming home.”
According to experts, Argentina will try to use its psychological advantage: break the game into episodes, slow down the pace and drag England into momentary showdowns.
The more chaotic the game is, the more comfortable the Argentines will feel. Therefore, for England, one of the key ways to achieve victory is iron discipline.