Diego Maradona’s fist, David Beckham’s boot and Beckham’s redemption penalty are the three moments that built the England-Argentina rivalry into one of the World Cup’s fiercest. On Wednesday, the two nations add a new chapter. England and Argentina meet in the semifinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, kicking off at 3 p.m. ET (7 p.m. UTC), with a place in Sunday’s final on the line.
It is their first meeting at a World Cup since 2002, a 24-year gap that spans two generations of players. Jude Bellingham was not yet born when Beckham buried his redemption penalty in Sapporo. Lionel Messi was 15. Now Bellingham is the player England builds its attack around, and Messi, at 38, is still Argentina’s best.
England reached this semifinal the hard way. Norway led their quarterfinal in Miami through a first-half goal from Andreas Schjelderup, and Bellingham answered with a stoppage-time equalizer to force extra time. He struck again early in the extra period to complete a 2-1 win, ending Norway’s surprise run. A victory Wednesday would put Thomas Tuchel’s side in its first World Cup final since England won the tournament on home soil in 1966, 60 years ago.
Argentina’s path was messier. The defending champions needed extra time to beat Switzerland 3-1 in Kansas City. Alexis Mac Allister headed Argentina ahead early from a Messi corner, Dan Ndoye leveled for Switzerland in the second half, and Breel Embolo was sent off for the Swiss just after the hour. Argentina made the extra man count late, with Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez both scoring in extra time. Messi did not find the net in that one, but he arrives in Atlanta with eight goals for the tournament.
The history between these two teams goes back further than 1986. England won the first World Cup meeting 3-1 at the 1962 group stage in Chile, then beat Argentina 1-0 in the 1966 quarterfinal at Wembley, a match remembered as much for Antonio Rattin’s red card as for Geoff Hurst’s winning header. Argentina evened the ledger in the 1986 quarterfinal in Mexico City, where Maradona scored the “Hand of God” goal with his fist and then dribbled past five England players for what is still called the Goal of the Century, in a 2-1 win. The 1998 round of 16 produced a 2-2 draw remembered for Michael Owen’s solo goal, Beckham’s red card for kicking Diego Simeone and David Batty’s missed penalty in a shootout Argentina won 4-3. England closed the book on that run in the 2002 group stage, winning 1-0 on a Beckham penalty after Owen was fouled.
There is another number worth checking before kickoff. If Argentina beats England on Wednesday, it will be the team’s fourth consecutive final in a major FIFA or CONMEBOL competition, following title runs at the 2021 Copa America, the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America. That run of three straight titles is already one of the best in the sport’s history, which makes Wednesday about extending a streak as much as it is about reaching the trophy match itself.
Tuchel has spent the buildup talking about how to slow Messi without abandoning England’s own attacking identity. “I was thinking about this, whether we do an old-school man mark. Not sure if we follow through with the idea but it crossed my mind,” he said this week. He also framed the occasion plainly. “It is very unique to play against the reigning champions and Lionel Messi. It is a big match in a big tournament,” Tuchel said.
England’s route to Atlanta ran through a Norway team that had never been this deep in a World Cup, a result covered in detail after Bellingham’s extra-time strike. The other semifinal, a rematch between France and Spain in Arlington, carries its own history, which we previewed separately. Both winners advance to Sunday’s final, a matchup ranked among the sport’s biggest stages in our look at every World Cup final four since 2014.
Official match information, including confirmed lineups once they are released, is available on FIFA’s match centre for England vs. Argentina. FIFA’s own account of how Argentina survived Switzerland is available in its Argentina-Switzerland match report.
Neither country has lifted the World Cup since 1966 for England or 2022 for Argentina, but only one of them can reach Sunday’s final. Given how the previous five meetings have gone, a comfortable afternoon in Atlanta seems unlikely.
