A World Cup semifinal between two heavyweights is underway in Atlanta.
Wednesday’s semifinal match between Argentina and England pits soccer great Lionel Messi against young superstar Jude Bellingham.
The winner will meet Spain, whose defensive prowess and swagger allowed them to clinch a spot in the World Cup final with a 2-0 win against France on Tuesday.
Follow along for live updates, highlights and analysis as the second spot in the World Cup final
is decided.
Lionel Messi delivered another perfect pass to the goal that may have put a late dagger in England. Messi gathered the ball on the right side, took a couple of touches, then delivered a perfect cross across the goal for Lautaro Martinez’s powerful close range header. Martinez had subbed into the game just a few minutes earlier.
Lautaro Martínez scores in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to give Argentina the lead.
Shortly before the tying goal by Argentina’s Enzo Fernández, Argentina made its last substitution as forward Lautaro Martínez came on for defender Nicolás Tagliafico in the 81st minute. England also made changes, swapping defender Reece James for Dan Burn, and Declan Rice for Nico O’Reilly.
Messi took the ball wide on the right side after a quick corner kick. He worked his way toward the penalty box before passing to Enzo Fernandez, who unleashed a powerful shot with his right foot that beat England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford as it bent toward upper right corner.
Argentina’s Enzo Fernández scores in the 85th minute.
England has subbed out goal scorer Anthony Gordon for Ezri Konsa.
Argentina has subbed Gonzalo Montiel for Nahuel Molina, Nicolas Otamendi for Lisandro Martínez, and Rodrigo De Paul for Giuliano Simeone.
England seized control with Anthony Gordon’s goal but Argentina is pressing hard to match it.
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made a diving save to his right to deny Argentina’s Nico Gonzalez on a header just before the hydration break.
Argentina sent Leandro Paredes to the bench in the 64th minute. He was replaced by Nico González as Argentina chases a goal after falling behind 1-0.
The score came on a cross from Morgan Rogers across the mouth of the goal, and Anthony Gordon got his right foot on the ball to knock it past Argentina goal keeper Emiliano Martinez. The play started with a quick flick to the wing from Declan Rice.
Anthony Gordon scores in the 55th minute.
The first half was scoreless but not without some rough action. The teams combined for 19 fouls, two yellow cards and no shots on goal.
The Atlanta-raised hip-hop star treated fans to a DJ set during halftime, starting with his song “Welcome to Atlanta.” From there, fans heard other classics, including Usher’s “Yeah!,” and T.I.’s “Bring Em Out.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrived shortly before kickoff to a World Cup watch party at the city’s Rikers Island jail.
His dark suit jacket was off and his white dress shirt sleeves were rolled up.
Mamdani took a seat at a table and immediately started chatting about the tournament.
One of the inmates told others at the table that he expected Argentina to prevail over England and go onto face Spain, which beat France on Tuesday.
“You never know,” said Mamdani, a professed Morocco fan.
Another inmate said he was going home later today. “That’s amazing,” the mayor said.
At about the 20-minute mark of the game, Mamdani headed out.
There has been little in the way of action near the goal, but the bodies have been flying in a rugged match fueled by a tense historic rivalry.
The teams have combined for 19 fouls, two yellow cards and no shots on goal. Referee Ismail Elfath held up play briefly after just a few minutes in an effort to calm things down.
It didn’t seem to help much as the physical style by both teams continued.
Argentina’s star striker Lionel Messi has struggled to create goal chances. It’s been the same for England and striker Harry Kane, who has yet to make much of an impact.
The teams will have to decide whether to sit the players who received the yellow cards for the second half or risk another one and an automatic ejection. They are England’s Elliot Anderson and Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez.
This one goes to Argentina, earned by Lisandro Martínez in the 42nd minute for holding up a potential England counterattack.
This rough match now has more yellow cards (two) than shots on goal (zero).
The first yellow card of a rugged match has been issued to England’s Elliot Anderson for a hard tackle on Lionel Messi in the 38th minute.
The play stopped a dangerous Argentina attack. The teams had been whistled for 16 fouls at that point.
Lines inside stadiums to buy World Cup merchandise have been outrageous throughout the tournament.
Wednesday’s semifinal between England and Argentina was no exception, with hundreds in line before the match started. Scarves are a particularly hot commodity.
Curious to see what the lines were like while the match was ongoing, an Associated Press reporter visited a FIFA store around the 20th minute and found more than a dozen people in line to buy items including $45 scarves and $48 T-shirts.
Referee Ismail Elfath has perhaps been working the hardest trying to keep control of a physical and emotional match.
Neither team has created much in the way of goal chances, but players have been hitting the ground after hard fouls and hard play. Those include stars Lionel Messi and Jude Bellingham.
England and Argentina wasted no time raising the temperature of their semifinal with tough, physical play.
Several players had to be separated after a hard foul by Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez on England midfielder Elliot Anderson. The fouls kept coming and referee Ismail Elfath had to stop play briefly in an effort to calm things down.
Regardless of the opponent, Argentina fans often enjoy chanting “Whoever doesn’t jump is English.” So, for obvious reasons, they’ve been singing it a lot as a dig at England fans.
The full chant is “Y ya lo ve, y ya lo ve, el que no salta es un inglés” – meaning: “And you can see it, and you can see it: whoever doesn’t jump is English.”
The melody comes from a catchy 1970s tune by the Argentine duo Juan & Juan.
Lionel Messi leads Argentina’s pursuit of a second consecutive World Cup title. His eight goals are tied for the most in this tournament.
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham lead England as the Three Lions seek their first World Cup title since 1966. Each has scored six goals so far.
The intercontinental rivalry carries a lot of history, most notably Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal against England in 1986.
The winner advances to Sunday’s final against Spain, which beat France 2-0 on Tuesday.
The loser plays France on Saturday for third place.
More than 100 inmates at the sprawling Rikers Island correctional facility gathered in a gymnasium at the complex’s main intake center to watch Wednesday’s semifinal between England and Argentina.
Arriving inmates dressed in tan uniforms took seats at black cloth tables facing a projection screen showing the game.
Colorful balloon towers topped by soccer ball balloons framed the screen. The special event is for inmates who have shown good behavior, including being incident-free at least for 30 days.
The jail has been hosting watch parties since the World Cup kicked off last month.
There have been 90 such events, with about 4,500 of the roughly 6,600 inmates participating.
David Beckham, the former England captain who could “bend” a ball like no other is at the match in with his wife, Victoria.
Beckham owns a notorious piece of the Argentina-England rivalry history. He was sent off in the second half of a 1998 World Cup elimination match after kicking out at Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone. That left England short-handed and Beckham shouldered a lot of blame when Argentina ultimately won on penalty kicks.
Beckham got a measure of revenge four years later by scoring a penalty in a 1-0 win that contributed to Argentina being eliminated from the group stage.
England: Jordan Pickford, Reece James, John Stones, Marc Guéhi, Djed Spence, Morgan Rogers, Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Anthony Gordon, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane
Argentina: Emiliano Martínez, Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Tagliafico, Giuliano Simeone, Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Lionel Messi, Julián Alvarez
England coach Thomas Tuchel has selected Morgan Rogers to start in place of Noni Madueke on the right wing. Defenders Reece James and Djed Spence also will start, replacing Ezri Konsa and Nico O’Reilly.
For Argentina, coach Lionel Scaloni picked Gio Simeone in midfield over Rodrigo De Paul.
Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia posted a photo on Instagram of himself sitting next to Argentina stars Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul.
Tapia is under investigation over his assets and the organization’s financial management. He received judicial authorization to travel to the World Cup despite the ongoing probes.
“Here we go again, with hope as our guiding principle, representing an entire nation. More united than ever,” Tapia wrote.
Argentine Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva has said fans won’t be able to carry some of their flags and banners that incorporate images of the Falkland Islands into the World Cup semifinal match between Argentina and England.
Monteoliva cited FIFA’s code of conduct, which bans politically divisive content. But her comments led to a social media backlash in Buenos Aires.
England reasserted control of the Falklands in a 1982 war with Argentina. Argentines claim the British protectorate as the Malvinas and consider the South Atlantic islands essential to their national identity.
FIFA’s code of conduct also says fans cannot “curse or chant in a political, offensive and/or discriminatory manner.”
But Britain’s top representative in Atlanta has said she expects Argentines to continue with their chants that reference the Malvinas along with soccer greats Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. Consul General Rachel Galloway told Atlanta First News that although fans might sing about those issues, “we find a way to work together.”
Wildfires in Canada forced officials to call off Wednesday’s planned FIFA Fan Festival in Toronto. Thousands of people were expected to be there to watch the England-Argentina match.
“The health and safety of attendees, staff, volunteers, and emergency personnel remains our top priority,” organizers said.
More than 100 wildfires were burning in Canada on Wednesday, with wind pushing smoke southeast. Warnings about unhealthy air extended from Minnesota through Toronto and into New York.
The World Cup final will be in East Rutherford, New Jersey — just outside of New York City — on Sunday.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has tried to play down his country’s clash with England as nothing more than a soccer game.
But some Argentine politicians have not been shy about bringing up longstanding tensions between the countries.
Argentine Vice President Victoria Villarruel described the match as a fight against “usurping pirates.” That’s a reference to England’s control of the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas.
Villarruel shared a photo of an Argentine jersey draped over the grave of a soldier killed in the deadly 10-week Falklands War of 1982. She also made references to Argentine greats Diego Maradona, who led a World Cup quarterfinal victory over England in 1986, and Lionel Messi.
“This isn’t just another match. … It’s the Malvinas, it’s Diego, it’s Leo’s last one, and it’s putting the brakes on the invaders,” she said.
Kylian Mbappé, one of the biggest stars of this year’s World Cup and one of the game’s greatest scorers, just couldn’t generate many chances in France’s 2-0 loss to Spain in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Through Tuesday, Mbappé and Lionel Messi remain tied atop the leaderboard with eight goals each. Mbappé, who won the Golden Boot at the last World Cup four years ago in Qatar, holds the first tiebreaker with the edge in assists. Messi has a chance to pull ahead in the race on Wednesday as Argentina faces England.
Both players will then have one more match before the award is decided. France will play the loser of the other semifinal match in the third-place game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spain will take on the winner in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the final.
It’s England vs. Argentina in the World Cup semifinals. It’s also Lionel Messi vs. Jude Bellingham.
The battle of the two No. 10s could be pivotal to deciding Wednesday’s match in Atlanta.
“We know how good Messi is,” England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford said of the Argentina great, whose enduring brilliance has been on show again even at the age of 39.
Messi and Bellingham have been inspirational in their teams’ respective runs to the final four. And Wednesday’s match may well be determined by which one has the biggest say on the day.
He is already considered by many to be the greatest of all time — the GOAT — and his performances at what is likely his last World Cup, aged 39, have only strengthened that argument. This will be Lionel Messi’s first ever game against England.
If Messi can lead Argentina to the title, he would surpass the great Maradona by winning two World Cups for his country.
Argentina would also become the first back-to-back champion since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Soccer great Pelé was part of those Brazil teams and also went on to win a third World Cup in 1970.
Spain’s defensive prowess and swagger were just too much for an attacking trio led by France great Kylian Mbappé, and just enough to get the 2010 champions into another World Cup final.
The Spanish team managed a record sixth shutout in seven games so far, winning 2-0 in the semifinals Tuesday against one of the most prolific scorers in World Cup history.
Spain will face the winner of Argentina-England on Sunday at New York New Jersey stadium.
Argentina and England have plenty of beef on and off the soccer field coming into today’s World Cup semifinal game in Atlanta.
The off-the-field tensions go back to the 1982 conflict over the Falkland Islands while the soccer rivalry also has been intense for decades.
Argentina captain Antonio Rattin, whose death was announced on Saturday, was sent off in a bad-tempered quarterfinal match against winner England in 1966. England manager Alf Ramsey tried to stop his players from swapping shirts with their opponents after a 1-0 victory.
Twenty years later in 1986 Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal helped Argentina to a 2-1 win against England in the quarterfinals on the way to lifting the trophy.
David Beckham was sent off in 1998 for kicking out at Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone, who was predictably criticized by the English media for his reaction to what appeared to be light contact. Argentina won the round of 16 match on penalties.
Beckham got his revenge four years later by scoring a penalty in a 1-0 win that contributed to Argentina being eliminated at the group stage.
Today’s Argentina-England matchup in Atlanta will be at 3 p.m. EDT and available in English on Fox or FS1.
For those who prefer the Spanish broadcast — Telemundo has been a very popular option.
The World Cup’s viewership in the U.S. has been strong throughout the tournament.
Fox reported more than 21.7 million tuned in to watch England’s 3-2 victory in Mexico City on July 5. That topped the previous record of the final between Argentina and France in 2022, which was seen by 16.7 million.
Every match of the tournament has been available for U.S. viewers in English on Fox or FS1, on Telemundo or Universo in Spanish. Streaming options include Fox One and Peacock.
