England v Argentina: Late Agony in Atlanta as 60-Year Wait for a World Cup Final Goes On

• England were minutes from reaching their first World Cup final since 1966 before Argentina struck twice in the final five minutes to win 2-1 in a dramatic semifinal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
• Anthony Gordon gave England the lead in the 55th minute, but Enzo Fernandez equalized with a stunning strike from outside the box in the 85th before substitute Lautaro Martinez headed the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
• Lionel Messi, who assisted both Argentina goals, became the oldest outfield player to appear in a World Cup semifinal at 39 years and 21 days.

Kane Left ‘Gutted’ as Argentina Stage Another Stoppage-Time Comeback to Reach Seventh World Cup Final

England were five minutes from a World Cup final. They had done the hard part, weathering an increasingly desperate Argentina onslaught with Jordan Pickford performing heroics behind a backline that was bending but refusing to break. Then, in the space of seven devastating minutes, it was all taken away.

Enzo Fernandez unleashed a magnificent shot from 20 yards that flew past Pickford to his right in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martinez headed home Lionel Messi’s cross at the far post in the second minute of stoppage time to send the holders into a seventh World Cup final and condemn England to another agonizing near miss.

It was a revival of one of international football’s great rivalries, and it ended with a repeat of the scoreline from the teams’ most famous encounter in Mexico City 40 years ago. The atmosphere inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium was raucous from before kickoff, with both sets of fans trying to drown out the other team’s national anthem, and the first half matched that intensity on the pitch. It was cagey, feisty and repeatedly broken up by fouls.

Neither side produced an attempt on goal until the 33rd minute, 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 the crossbar. The first 45 minutes ended goalless and without a single clear-cut chance.

The match opened up after the break. Julian Alvarez got beyond Djed Spence following a long ball forward and drew a smart save from Pickford at his near post, offering the first real warning of what was to come. But the breakthrough belonged to England. Morgan Rogers, one of three players reinstated to Thomas Tuchel’s starting lineup, delivered a terrific low cross from the right. Anthony Gordon, arriving at the back post, got in front of Nahuel Molina and steered an excellent controlled finish into the corner of Emiliano Martinez’s goal to make it 1-0 in the 55th minute.

What followed was a slow, painful retreat. England sat deeper and deeper as Argentina, with their grip on the World Cup loosening, poured forward in search of an equalizer. Spence made a brilliant goalsaving tackle to deny Giuliano Simeone. Substitute Nico Gonzalez saw his header foiled by a world-class Pickford save in the 69th minute after connecting with a pinpoint Messi cross. Alexis Mac Allister headed against the post, then minutes later forced another save from Pickford after striking the woodwork with a separate effort.

Tuchel switched to a back five to try to shut the door, but the waves of pressure kept coming. Eventually, the dam broke. A short-corner routine found Messi, who squared the ball to Fernandez. The midfielder took one touch and unleashed a shot from outside the box that gave Pickford no chance, crashing past the goalkeeper to his right to make it 1-1 with five minutes of normal time remaining.

England barely had time to regroup before the knockout blow arrived. In the second minute of stoppage time, Mac Allister’s shot struck the post but Messi recycled the danger, delivering a right-footed cross to the far post where Martinez had peeled away from his marker. The substitute buried his header into the net from close range to complete the comeback.

Harry Kane, who won his 121st cap to become the outfield player with the most international appearances for England, made no attempt to hide his devastation. “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,” Kane said.

“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.”

Tuchel was equally candid in his assessment of what went wrong after Gordon’s goal. “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,” Tuchel told the BBC.

“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.”

On the Argentine side, the mood could not have been more different. Martinez, who had also scored as a substitute in the quarterfinal, revealed he had told his teammates before coming on that he would be the hero. “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,” Martinez said.

“[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.”

Head coach Lionel Scaloni was overcome with emotion at full time. “No words, no words. A joy for our country, for our people,” Scaloni said. “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.”

Messi, named player of the match at the age of 39, now has 10 assists in World Cup knockout matches, six more than any other player in at least the past 60 years. He has recorded a goal or assist in 11 straight World Cup games dating back to 2022, extending the longest such streak since at least 1966. His performance in Atlanta made him the oldest outfield player to appear in a World Cup semifinal, surpassing the record previously shared by Fritz Walter of West Germany and Gunnar Gren of Sweden, who were both 37 years and 236 days old when they faced each other in the 1958 semifinals.

Argentina’s clash with Spain in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday will be the first World Cup final between the reigning champions of Europe and South America, and the first time the top two teams in the FIFA rankings have contested the showpiece since rankings were introduced in 1992. Victory would see Argentina join Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962) as only the third country to win consecutive World Cup finals. England, meanwhile, will face France in Saturday’s third-place match in Miami Gardens.