Overview:
Competitively, the last meeting was at the 2002 World Cup where England edged the South Americans 1-0 courtesy of David Beckham penalty in the group stages but the most famous meeting was in 1986 in Azteca when Diego Maradona scored the famous ‘Hand of God’ goal to eliminate the Three Lions enroute to winning the trophy in Mexico.
July 15, 2026
- Atlanta stadium 10pm [EAT]
England and Argentina renew rivalry in the 2026 Fifa World Cup semi-final at Atlanta on Wednesday with a date against Spain in the final the reward.
The Three Lions are targeting only their second ever global showpiece final and the first since 1966 when they won it on home soil while Argentina seek successive finals after winning the tournament in Qatar four years ago.
To get here, England eliminated Erling Haaland’s Norway 2-1 in the quarter final while Argentina and Lionel Messi kicked out Switzerland 3-1 after extra time.
This will be the first meeting between the two sides since 2005 when Wayne Rooney and Micheal scored for England in an international friendly.
Competitively, the last meeting was at the 2002 World Cup where England edged the South Americans 1-0 courtesy of David Beckham penalty in the group stages but the most famous meeting was in 1986 in Azteca when Diego Maradona scored the famous ‘Hand of God’ goal to eliminate the Three Lions enroute to winning the trophy in Mexico.
This tie represents Argentina’s sixth World Cup clash with their old foes, and it will also be their sixth semi-final – the La Albiceleste have never failed to progress from this stage.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni could soon become just the seventh man to manage in two World Cup finals, following in the footsteps of countryman Carlos Bilardo – but Tuchel’s England side stand in his way.
England will look to Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham for inspiration but Tuchel will hope to have a fully fit Declan Rice after he came off at halftime in the quarter final clash.
For Argentina, Messi remains the main man and it remains to be seen who Scaloni will partner him with from Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez.
