Argentina advances to reach FIFA World Cup 2026™ finals against Spain, after a 2-1 win against England in a thrilling semi-final clash. England's Anthony Gordon took the lead early in the second half, but Argentina staged a late comeback. Enzo Fernandez equalised with a long-range strike and Lautaro Martinez scored a late goal in stoppage time - both with incredible Lionel Messi assists. England will now turn its attention to the third-place playoff against France, after falling just short of another World Cup final. Argentina players celebrated their victory by holding a banner that read 'Las Malvinas son Argentinas' on the pitch. Join your host Haylena Krishnamoorthy for this episode of World Cup Daily | The 90+ Podcast, as she talks to SBS Spanish Executive Producer Carlos Colina to discuss the match, and what we can expect to see at the finals.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Another chapter is written for one of the World Cup's greatest rivalries.
After a 60 year wait, will England reach their first title?
Or did the reigning world champions, led by Lionel Messi rewrite history?
And why Argentina might face a fine?
This is SBS News World Cup Daily, The 90+ Podcast, where we bring you the stories from on and beyond the pitch. And I'm your host, Haylena Krishnamoorthy.
England came in strong, full of believe and hope, to redeem their first World Cup title since 1966.
With five semi-finals in Argentina's history, and five World Cup titles thus far, Argentina was looking to add another.
And they did, with a sixth semi-final 2-1 win, a late one for their side.
It wasn't looking that way early on.
England's captain Harry Kane dropping deep in the first half.
Both teams needed to show more possession after the first half, and England came back stronger.
With his great touches, and great finish, Jude Bellingham looked difficult to stop - he's been phenomenal in this tournament.
Here's England's assistant coach, Anthony Barry at the break.
"Keep going, we wanted to be the aggressor, we wanted to get on the front foot, we wanted to get after them and show them there is no inferiority complex, that we were here to play and play in the opponents half and show our players the tactical approach, I think it worked... from there it gets a little bit difficult for us to catch the ball, they drop Messi outside the block, they drop Enzo outside the block it's more difficult for us, they've got some possession, but it's still absolutely okay, I think for us to evolve in the game and for the evolution for us now is to take the dominance and turn it into some bigger chances, we've got some okay chances, half chances, I think the more time we spend in the opponents half the more tired they would get. We use our Premier League power and our physicality and we can open more later."
And he wasn't wrong.
They got back on the pitch and Anthony Gordon put the world champions on the rope, in the 55th minute as he scored from a close range in front of the defender.
It was looking great for The Three Lions but Argentina ramped up its defence after that goal.
England's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford held tight till.
Argentina dominated the end of that match, with an 86th minute long-range strike from Enzo Fernández, assisted by Messi.
And just before that, Alexis Mac Allister sent a low shot against the post, a move he made twice in the match.
So Lionel Messi - who's playing for the first time against England - does what he does best, another assist for Lautaro Martinez.
At 39-years-old, the Argentine captain is playing in his sixth World Cup and already has an astonishing 21 World Cup goals.
Before kickoff, my SBS colleague John Baldock spoke to Argentina fans outside the Atlanta stadium.
Female voxxie: "Messi is everything for us."
John Baldock: "What does it mean to see him play?"
Female voxxie: "I don't know, he's a simple guy, he has a huge heart.. emotion.. it's a feeling, it's very difficult to describe.. feeling all over the body, for Argentine."
And after the win, these were scenes on the ground.
"He's the best one in the world, that's the only thing I have to say. Everyone were saying that we are the FIFA princess and everything, now tell me where was it rigged in this game? Never, we are the best ones, we are the best ones."
England coach Thomas Tuchel after the match.
"No one knows what would have happened if we made different decisions. So, it makes no sense to engage in that and lose my head. I'm responsible for them. I took them. So, I take the criticism. That's just the way it is.”
To unpack the match, I spoke to SBS Spanish Producer Carlos Colina, who's no stranger to The 90+ Podcast.
He says it was a fantastic match with a cohesive reaction.
"England was all over Argentina, but after the first goal that, that England scored, they changed completely and well. This is a great final and this is a great opportunity as well for SBS Spanish, because we have two Spanish-speaking countries in the final, and it's madness because we have one of the biggest communities are both Spain and Argentina. So I don't know what's going to happen in this very exciting final."
He also commended Messi's play.
"Praise as well to Messi, who played a really great game, even though he didn't score this time. But he was very important in the match, and now, of course, the prize to be in the final is something that, he was dreaming, and let's see what's going to happen against the team where he basically, Messi, grew up playing football. He play, with Barcelona since he was a kid, and then he got all his trophies and his championships with Spain and Barcelona. So let's see, because it's a very also, heartful moment for him."
This rivalry between England and Argentina stretches back to 1966, when both sides met at the World Cup quarter-finals at Wembley.
The late Argentina captain Antonio Rattín was sent off in one of the tournament's most controversial moments, and he refused to leave the pitch, eventually being escorted away by police.
England won 1-nil, before going on to lift the World Cup.
After the match, England manager Alf Ramsey refused to let his players swap shirts and reportedly described the Argentinians as "animals", setting the tone for decades of hostility.
In 1982, the rivalry intensified off the pitch when Britain and Argentina fought over the Falklands Island - or Las Malvinas, as they're known in Argentina.
Britain won the conflict, but four years later the two nations met again on football's biggest stage.
Today, Argentina players have celebrated their victory [[on the pitch]] by holding a banner that read 'Las Malvinas son Argentinas' which translates to 'The Falkland Islands are Argentinian'.
They may face scrutiny for going against FIFA’s Stadium Code of Conduct.
Before the match, Argentine boss Lionel Scaloni said he didn't want the game to become about the conflict over the British overseas territory.
Carlos Colina again.
"The historical rivalry for the Falkland Islands and the, the war they had, some years ago, and also the tensions because Milei's also at this stage, trying to get into the Falkland Islands again. And also in, in terms of, of World Cups we can remember when England also faced Argentina, with Maradona, and the hand of God, that fantastic historical goal, where Argentina beat England as well."
The 1986 quarter-final in Mexico produced just maybe the most famous World Cup match ever.
Diego Maradona scored twice.
First came the infamous "Hand of God", punching the ball into the net past Peter Shilton.
And four minutes later, he scored what's widely regarded as the greatest goal in World Cup history, dribbling past five England players before scoring.
Argentina won 2-1 and went on to become world champions.
In 1998, England and Argentina played out a thrilling 2-all draw in France.
Michael Owen scored one of England's greatest World Cup goals, but David Beckham received a red card after a foul on central midfielder Diego Simeone.
Reduced to ten men, England eventually lost 4-3 on penalties.
In 2002, England finally had their revenge in Sapporo, Japan.
David Beckham scored the only goal from the penalty spot as England beat Argentina 1-nil in the group stage.
And looking ahead?
The final match between Argentina and Spain comes with plenty of political edge.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Argentine President Javier Milei have been locked in a bitter diplomatic feud since 2024.
Carlos doesn't rule out the US President from the equation.
"President Donald Trump, he doesn't like Spain either, and he's very close to Milei. So there's a three, a trifecta there. Very interesting as well politically, and I am receiving information that probably the King of Spain is going to be present. They don't know if the President of Spain is going to be in the stadium. And they are waiting for, of course, Donald Trump to be in the final as well. So politically speaking, it is kind of a, a rough time. I want to see, for example, if Spain wins, if Trump is going to give the trophy to the team."
He says it's mainly to do with the country's policies, but also comes at the cost of history of Spain's presence in Latin America.
"Argentina has a leader who is viewed as a very, progressive far-right, extremist almost, and his policies have been around attacking the left all over the world. And of course, Spain has a left government and this is what precisely Milei is attacking, the way the government, the socialist government is developing policies and stopping progress in the countries where the left is present."
And what does he think will happen in the finals?
Carlos describes both teams as having two different approaches to the game.
Spain's tiki taka passing and having control of the ball, while Argentina is more tactical - keeping their eyes out for players like Messi, in the team.
For those of you wondering what tiki taka is - it's a style of play in football by short and precise and movement, all while maintaining possession.
I also asked Carlos what his thoughts were on talks about FIFA's favouritism against Argentina.
This was his response.
"It was also in the last World Cup, the one Argentina won. There's always been a controversy on how referees are backing, especially Messi. And if you see the, the images and the replays, you could probably see that there's a favouritism, with the Argentinian team in some aspects. They haven't put red cards or yellow cards for even to Messi,when other players have gotten even worse with red cards for the same faults that Messi is committing in this tournament. So probably there's a bit of truth in that. But at the end of the day, if you see the goals and, how the goals, were scored, they, were in, a way questionable."
Saying that at the end of the day it's about scoring goals, and that's what Argentina does well.
And what does Argentina's captain, Messi himself have to say?
"Everything we did is not by chance, and no one gave us anything. Reaching two world finals in a row is no small feat, and this group achieved it."
I'll be back with you on Sunday for the match between England and France.
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