Lionel Messi’s Argentina face England in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, with Spain on the lookout after dashing France’s hopes of a third triumph.
The confrontation between two of the great beasts of world football is quite enticing, but it is spiced by long-standing political tensions.
Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina are seeking to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups, in what would be a stunning farewell for the incomparable Messi.
The 39-year-old, co-leader of the Golden Boot with eight goals, inspired his team to victory in Qatar in 2022 in what is expected to be his last hurray on football’s biggest stage.
But he is back and played a pivotal role in taking his side to the semi-finals, scoring in hard-fought 3-2 wins over Cape Verde and Egypt.
Three-time champions Argentina will face a different class of opponent in Atlanta than the teams they have faced so far, although England have only shone intermittently.
Thomas Tuchel’s men relied on the genius of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, who scored 12 of England’s 13 goals.
The two teams will meet for the first time in a competitive match since the 2002 World Cup.
Tuchel said he did not feel any added pressure despite the historic nature of the match as England aim for a first World Cup final since winning the tournament in 1966.
“I don’t feel like a burden,” he said. “We will feel tension and will be nervous but that’s normal.
“What I like is I feel like the players are really competitive, hungry and excited to play this game.”
The German added that midfielder Declan Rice, who is suffering from illness, was fit to start.
Drama
The history of the match is strewn with drama.
Their most memorable World Cup encounter was a 2-1 quarter-final victory for Argentina in Mexico in 1986, featuring two goals from Diego Maradona – one the famous ‘Hand of God’ goal and the other a dazzling solo effort.
Twelve years later, David Beckham was sent off in France as Argentina won on penalties.
Matches between the teams take place against the backdrop of an ongoing sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as Malvinas, in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Britain sent a military task force in 1982 to reclaim the islands after Argentine troops invaded.
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has sought in recent days to soften the impact of the match.
“The reality is it’s a football game,” he said. “I’m not going to mix it up, especially when it comes to things that happened so long ago.
“It was a very sad time in our history and there’s not much we can do about it. It’s a football match, that’s all.”
The two teams, both ranked by Fifa among the top four in the world, are competing for the right to face Spain in the final on Sunday in New Jersey.
Luis de la Fuente’s team put on a masterclass in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday to eliminate the French, who were widely tipped to win the World Cup for a third time after their superb offensive performances.
But European champions Spain produced a clinical performance to ensure French manager Didier Deschamps ended his World Cup career in defeat.
Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring for the 2010 winners with an emphatic first-half penalty and Pedro Porro doubled the lead in the second half.
“We started almost four years ago with an idea and we stuck with that idea and it brought us here,” De la Fuente said.
“These players deserve everything,” he added. “Day after day, they showed their commitment, their solidarity, their generosity, their talent. They make difficult things easy.”
