ATLANTA, JUL 16 (AP): No “Hand of God” this time. Argentina didn’t need it.
Instead it was the hallowed feet of Lionel Messi and the unbreakable spirit of a team that has repeatedly fought back at this year’s World Cup that is now one step away from back-to-back titles.
Trailing 1-0 going into the 85th minute, Argentina rallied for a 2-1 victory over England on Wednesday with goals from Enzo Fernandez and substitute Lautaro Martinez.
“I dreamed it, I swear. I told Alexis (Mac Allister) that I was going to score. I told him that I was going to come on and I was going to win it,” Martinez said. “I can tell you this team keeps showing what it’s made of.”
At the final whistle, Messi fell to his knees in celebration while England players collapsed in disbelief — again.
Add 2026 to 1986 and 1998 on the list of games when Argentina has extinguished English hopes at the World Cup.
“I’m gutted for the team, the staff, the fans,” England captain Harry Kane said. “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.”
The defending champions will take on European champion Spain in the final on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The best that South America has to offer against the best of Europe.
The loss for England will hurt a new generation of fans in a similar way to Diego Maradona’s infamous handball goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals and the penalty shootout loss in 1998 when David Beckham was sent off for kicking Diego Simeone.
The difference is there can be no sense of injustice this time, even if England had victory in its sights after Anthony Gordon scored the opening goal in the 55th minute.
The English were hanging on as the game wore on. England goalkeeper Jordon Pickford made vital saves while Mac Allister sent a header off the post as wave after wave of Argentina attacks came.
Messi had largely been kept quiet. But when he’s on the field, anything seems possible.
He fed the ball to Fernandez to sweep in the equalizer from outside the box in the 85th minute. And two minutes into stoppage time, Messi sent in a cross for Martinez to head in the winner.
It almost felt inevitable. Especially given the amount of times Argentina has simply refused to give in at this year’s World Cup. From Cape Verde to Egypt, Messi and Co. always seem to find a way.
“It is a show of the collectiveness, the brotherhood that we are in, the fight to the very end that we’ve got,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “We were ready to go home, sad, knowing that we had left everything on the pitch, but after they scored we really proved ourselves.”
England, in contrast, came up short in the World Cup semifinals for the third time after losses to Germany in 1990 and Croatia in 2018. And it’s another occasion in recent years when England’s players have squandered a winning position in the later stages of a major tournament.
They led 1-0 against Croatia in the semifinals eight years ago and lost 2-1. They were up 1-0 against Italy in the European Championship final in 2021 and lost on penalties.
On Wednesday, England coach Thomas Tuchel’s substitutions seemed to be more intent on holding on, rather than killing the game off with another goal.
“Argentina played with more risk, played with more rhythm, played with the feeling maybe that they have nothing to lose anymore, which freed them up and held us back because we played suddenly with a feeling that we have a lot to lose,” Tuchel said.
Argentina is now one step away from history. Messi, now 39 and likely playing at his last World Cup, is one win away from further strengthening his case to be considered the greatest soccer player of all time.
“We’re going to try to win, we’re going to leave everything out there,” Scaloni said. “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.”
The World Cup final is set, with Messi and Argentina facing Yamal and Spain for the title
The World Cup final is set, and fittingly, a clash of styles awaits. Lionel Messi — the most prolific goal scorer in the tournament’s history — and defending champion Argentina will take on Spain’s defensive juggernaut on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Spain beat France in one semifinal on Tuesday; Argentina, the comeback king of this tournament, rallied to beat England 2-1 in the other semifinal on Wednesday.
Argentina is seeking its fourth title and is looking to become the first back-to-back World Cup champion since Brazil pulled off the feat in 1958 and 1962. Spain is looking for its second title, after winning in 2010.
Argentina leads the tournament in goals scored — 19.
Spain leads the tournament in fewest goals allowed — one.
Something will have to give on Sunday, when the biggest World Cup ever — a 48-team, 104-match extravaganza spread out over the U.S., Canada and Mexico — comes to an end.
It’s not Finalissima. It’s going to be better.
South American champion Argentina and European champion Spain were supposed to meet in Doha, Qatar, in late March in Finalissima, a showdown between the teams led by Messi and Lamine Yamal in a prequel of the World Cup.
That game never happened. Security became an issue because of unrest in the Middle East, with Iran intensifying its attacks on neighboring countries at that time in retaliation to the aerial attacks by United States and Israel in a war that is still ongoing. The game was called off.
So, instead of playing at Lusail Stadium, the site of the epic 2022 World Cup final where Messi and Argentina won on penalty kicks over France and Kylian Mbappé, they’ll play just outside of New York in soccer’s biggest game.
It’ll be a showdown of soccer’s present versus soccer’s future, not to mention a showdown of the teams that held the top two spots in FIFA’s world rankings entering the World Cup — Argentina at No. 1, Spain at No. 2.
There was a famous photo taken in 2007 when Messi was part of a UNICEF program and posed with a baby.
Yamal was that baby. Like Messi (who now plays for Inter Miami), Yamal would become a left-footed star for Spanish club Barcelona. It is the most improbable of stories: From a photo together two decades ago, the two stars are set to be together again to end this year’s World Cup.
A picture-perfect finish.
How Spain got here
Record: Six wins, one draw, zero losses.
Goals for: 13.
Goals against: 1.
Group stage: drew with Cape Verde 0-0, beat Saudi Arabia 4-0, beat Uruguay 1-0.
Knockout stage: beat Austria 3-0, beat Portugal 1-0, beat Belgium 2-1, beat France 2-0.
How Argentina got here
Record: Seven wins, zero draws, zero losses.
Goals for: 19.
Goals against: 7.
Group stage: beat Algeria 3-0, beat Austria 2-0, beat Jordan 3-1.
Knockout stage: beat Cape Verde 3-2, beat Egypt 3-2, beat Switzerland 3-1, beat England 2-1.
Streaking
Both teams enter the final with impressive unbeaten streaks.
Spain is carrying a 37-match unbeaten streak across all competitions and friendlies into the final, having won 28 of those matches with nine draws. Its last loss was 1-0 to Colombia in March 2024.
Argentina is unbeaten in its last 13 World Cup matches, with 11 victories and two draws since falling to Saudi Arabia to open group play at the 2022 tournament.
The odds
Spain (+120) has been installed as the early favorite over Argentina (+275). Odds for a draw were quickly set at +200, and it’s reasonable to think all those numbers could change considerably before the title matchup.