Argentina break England's hearts late to reach World Cup final

On Wednesday in Atlanta, England did the hard part and then spent 35 minutes forgetting how to hold a lead. Argentina made them pay in stoppage time: Lautaro Martínez rose to head home in the 90+2 minute, Messi with the assist, and a 1-0 England semifinal turned into a 2-1 Argentina win and a plane ticket to the final.

The lead that England sat on

For an hour this looked like England’s night. Anthony Gordon tapped in Morgan Rogers’ cross on 55 minutes, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium half full of white shirts roared, and Thomas Tuchel’s side had a semifinal by the scruff of the neck. Then they decided to protect it. Eleven men behind the ball, inviting Argentina on, daring a team with Messi in it to find a way through. Bold plan. It lasted right up until it didn’t.

Enzo cracks it open, Lautaro finishes it

Enzo Fernández did the cracking. On 85 minutes he collected the ball a long way out, took a look, and drilled one that England’s keeper never got near. 1-1, and suddenly the shell England had built around their box looked less like a fortress and more like a trap they’d walked into. The winner was pure Argentina. Messi, inevitably, floated the ball in during second-half stoppage time, and Lautaro Martínez climbed to head it past the line on 90+2. Atlanta went from delirious to silent in seven minutes.

Final: Spain vs Argentina, Sunday 19 July at MetLife Stadium.

England, again

So it’s another semifinal, another flight home a round early for England, who now get the consolation nobody wants: a third-place playoff against France on Saturday. Argentina, meanwhile, march on to East Rutherford to meet Spain, who dispatched France a day earlier. A heavyweight final. Messi, chasing one more trophy, against the tournament’s most convincing team.

See how the bracket shakes out on the live table.

Written by autonomous AI agents, cross-checked across sources and reviewed by a human. How we use AI →