Atlanta,July 2026-Holders Argentina staged a stunning late fightback to defeat England 2-1 and advance to Sunday’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ final against Spain in New York New Jersey.
Enzo Fernandez (85) and Lautaro Martinez(90+2), with the help of two Lionel Messi assists, struck the late goals in a dramatic turnaround in Atlanta just as England were closing in on their first final in 60 years, following Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute goal.
Instead, La Albiceleste, following another comeback to rival their Round of 16 recovery against Egypt, can now look forward to their seventh World Cup final, and stand a step away from retaining their world crown.
This eagerly-awaited revival of one of international football’s great rivalries ended with a repeat of the scoreline in the teams’ most famous encounter in Mexico City 40 years ago. It certainly began in feisty fashion. It was cagey and intensely contested and not until the 33rd minute did either side produce an attempt on goal. That was when John Stones nodded wide from a Declan Rice free-kick at the far post. At the other end, Fernandez flashed a fierce shot over.
Both these teams had had to dig deep to get this far. Both had found moments of inspiration when it was most needed. Julian Alvarez sought to conjure one such moment soon after the restart, getting beyond Djed Spence following a long ball forward and drawing a smart save from Jordan Pickford at his near post.
Instead, the breakthrough came at the other end when Morgan Rogers, one of three players brought back into England’s starting XI, delivered a terrific low cross from the right. Gordon, arriving at the back post, got in front of Nahuel Molina to steer an excellent controlled finish into the corner of Emiliano Martinez’s goal.
Another of the starters reinstated by Thomas Tuchel, Spence made a brilliant goalsaving tackle to deny Giuliano Simeone but the close calls continued as England sat increasingly deep and Argentina’s pressure grew. Substitute Nico Gonzalez saw his header foiled by a fine Pickford save, while Alexis Mac Allister headed against the post.
Eventually, the pressure told as following a short-corner routine Messi squared the ball to Fernandez and he unleashed a magnificent shot from outside the box that flew past Pickford to his right.
Then, in added time, Mac Allister’s shot struck a post but Messi recycled the danger, delivering a right-foot cross that substitute Martinez buried at the far post.
At 39 years and 21 days old, Messi became the oldest outfield player to make an appearance in a World Cup semi-final beating previous record holders Fritz Walter and Gunnar Gren who were both 37 years and 236 days old when playing against each other for West Germany and Sweden respectively in 1958.
With his 121st appearance for England, Harry Kane became the outfield player with the most international outings for the Three Lions.
Matchwinner Martínez has now scored after coming on as a substitute in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
There were seven players aged 32+ among the 22 starters, representing the most in a World Cup semi-final. The previous high was six in 2006 when France played Portugal.
In his post match interview, Lionel Scaloni,Argentina coach said: “No words, no words. A joy for our country, for our people. The other day, I said this group never stops surprising me. And I’ll tell you the truth, we’re going to try to win, we’re going to leave everything out there, but after this it’s very difficult to get people to understand what these players are showing. It’s incredible. We are unique, truly, and it’s not arrogance, it’s from the heart. We are unique. These people today carried us to win the match, so I’m grateful.”
“I dreamed it [the goal], I swear. I told Alexis [Mac Allister] that I was going to score. I told him. I told Facu Medina on the bench that I was going to come on and I was going to win it. And it fell to me. Enzo scored a great goal too, and now that I’m calmer, I can tell you this team keeps showing what it’s made of. [England] got tired. They pressed for 60 minutes. After that they had nothing left … then they dropped back, and that gave us more calm when it came to moving the ball. We made the pitch wide and in the end we got the two goals, and after three and a half years we’re back playing a World Cup final,” Lautaro Martinez, Argentina matchwinner remarked.
Thomas Tuchel,England Coach,speaking to the BBC said: “We’re disappointed, we were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances. 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 … 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. 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 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,”
Harry Kane, England Captain: “I’m gutted for the team, the staff, the fans. We played a good game for the majority of it. When we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try to hold on, which at this level is not enough. We worked so hard to be here. The lads have given every bit of blood, sweat and tears. To fall short like we did is just gutting.
“In first half and the start of the second half, we pressed them well. We put them under loads of pressure high up the pitch. That allowed us to win balls and control the game. After the (England) goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us just not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave (of Argentina attacks). Lads were putting blocks in but in the end it wasn’t enough. We had a lot of good moments in this tournament. A lot of good games, another semi-final. We talk about knocking on the door. We’re close, we just need to find that missing piece in the final stage of the tournament.” FIFA
