FIFA World Cup 2026: England tried to protect a late lead at World Cup but Messi and Argentina broke through to win

Atlanta: England desperately wanted to protect its lead as time was winding down in the World Cup semifinals. Coach Thomas Tuchel made lineup and strategy changes to build a wall in front of goal.

Argentina and Lionel Messi simply kicked it down.

England led 1-0 late in the second half before Messi assisted on goals by Enzo Fernandez in the 85th minute and Lautaro Martinez in the second minute of injury time to give Argentina a wild 2-1 victory Wednesday and a spot in the World Cup final against Spain.


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Tuchel's tactical choices in one of the biggest matchups in one of soccer's biggest rivalries will likely be scrutinized and criticized for years. England missed it chance to return to the World Cup final for the first time since 1966.

"We played a good game for the large majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is not enough," England striker Harry Kane said. "Just gutted, gutted. Because we've worked so hard to get here."

England's loss marked only the second time this century that the team that scored first in a World Cup semifinal match did not reach the final, according to Opta. The other team was also England in 2018 against Croatia.

England took the lead on Anthony Gordon's goal in the 55th minute. But Argentina quickly switched the momentum with furious pressure on England's defense.

To protect the lead, England drew closer and closer to its own goal, hoping to build the sort of impenetrable wall it had when it held on to beat Mexico in the round of 16 despite being down to 10 players.

Tuchel swapped defender Reece James for Dan Burn, and midfielder Declan Rice for defender Nico O'Reilly in the 82nd minute.

Fernandez struck barely three minutes later, with a precision right-footed strike from just outside the penalty area. Messi set up the play with a pass to his teammate's feet and England defenders failed to close him down before he ripped the shot that curled past diving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

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Argentina kept coming and England's wall kept crumbling. The defending champions hit the crossbar and missed another header across the mouth of the goal before Martinez finally sealed it with a powerful close-range header when England defenders lost him on a cross from Messi.

"They got tired," Martinez said. "They pressed for 60 minutes and then just ran out of steam. They got their goal and then sat back. That gave us more composure to move the ball around and stretch the pitch."