{"id":1788,"date":"2026-07-15T22:41:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1788"},"modified":"2026-07-15T23:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:06:17","slug":"trailing-argentina-sink-england-march-into-2026-world-cup-final-after-classic-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1788","title":{"rendered":"Trailing Argentina Sink England, March Into 2026 World Cup Final After Classic Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By<\/strong> Godspower Enuwa\/Juliet<\/strong> Monday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defending champions Argentina defeated England 2-1 in a dramatic FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinal on Wednesday, July 15, to book a place in Sunday\u2019s final against Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clash at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta renewed one of football\u2019s fiercest rivalries, 24 years after the teams last met on the World Cup stage. It was also the first time Lionel Messi faced England in a World Cup match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England struck first through Anthony Gordon, who finished an assist from Morgan Rogers to put the Three Lions ahead. 5482<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argentina responded in the second half. Midfielder Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez equalized before Lautaro Mart\u00ednez headed in the winner to send the Albiceleste through. The final score was recorded as England 1-2 Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England, managed by Thomas Tuchel, reached the last four after a 2-1 extra-time win over Norway. Jude Bellingham scored both goals, including a 93rd-minute winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO: Spain Defeat France 2-0 To Reach 2026 FIFA World Cup Final<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bellingham and captain Harry Kane both entered the semifinal with six goals each, joint top for England in the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argentina survived another scare in the quarterfinals, beating Switzerland 3-1 after extra time. Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez and Lautaro Mart\u00ednez scored late to seal progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defending champions remain unbeaten in their last 12 World Cup matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The semifinal featured the top four nations in the FIFA rankings. Messi leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals, with Bellingham and Kane on six each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO: DELSU Unveils Plans For Modern Multi-Purpose Sports Complex<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking before the game, Messi said it was \u201cspecial to face the big national teams\u201d and acknowledged he had never played England before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rivalry carries decades of history, from Diego Maradona\u2019s \u201cHand of God\u201d in 1986 to David Beckham\u2019s red card against Diego Simeone in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the win, Argentina advance to the World Cup final on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where they will face Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England will play France in the third-place match on July 18 in Miami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result keeps Argentina\u2019s bid for back-to-back World Cup titles alive, while England\u2019s wait for a first final since their 1966 triumph continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Godspower Enuwa\/Juliet Monday Defending champions Argentina defeated England 2-1 in a dramatic FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinal on Wednesday, July 15, to book a place in Sunday\u2019s final against Spain. The clash at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta renewed one of football\u2019s fiercest rivalries, 24 years after the teams last met on the World Cup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":44,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,1,14],"tags":[497,350,351],"class_list":["post-1788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-showbiz","category-trendingnews","tag-england","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-messi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1799,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788\/revisions\/1799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}