Tag: Semifinal

Still Not Home: England Fumbles Away World Cup Semifinal To Argentina

For 30 minutes, it looked like it might finally happen. But Thomas Tuchel’s tactics turned an attempt to defend a lead into a willing loss of control. Bending your defense out of structure invites pressure, chances and chaos. England weren’t trying to win — they were trying to not lose.

For 30 minutes, it looked like it might finally happen.

After a wonderful connection between Morgan Rogers and Anthony Gordon in 55th minute put England in front of Argentina, 1-0, at the World Cup semifinal in Atlanta, the Three Lions knew what they had to do — spend the next half-hour and change keeping the ball out of their net.

And for 30 agonizing minutes, they succeeded. But it always felt like Argentina were closing in on that elusive equalizer, especially with their attacking subs now in the fold.

On cue, Enzo Fernandez ripped a screamer into the top left corner from about 25 yards out to knot the game in a tie in the 85th minute. And a mere seven minutes later, a picturesque Lionel Messi cross was laid right on the forehead of super sub Lautaro Martinez for the stoppage time winner, sending Argentina back to the World Cup final to defend their title against Spain.

It’s the latest installment in a knockout run littered with drama and late-game comebacks for Argentina, and their resilience deserves to be celebrated. But I can’t help but feel like England lost this game more than the defending champions won it.

Forget the fact that they only took five shots and accumulated a mere 0.53 xG. They got on the board first thanks to a lovely ball from Rogers and a really difficult finish from Gordon. After that, their lone responsibility was defending that lead. Easier said than done, sure, but the manner in which they went about it can be pinpointed as the reason for this result.

England manager Thomas Tuchel almost immediately shifted the shape of his squad, opting to put five men at the back and play as deep as possible to prevent Argentina from scoring. Three defenders were subbed on in a 10-minute span before the equalizer as his squad was consistently playing nine or 10 deep. He probably knew that the blitz was coming, seeing what happened to Egypt in the Round of 16, but the emphasis was on preventing goals, not preventing chances.

Thomas Tuchel will rightfully face a fair share of criticism for his second-half tactics.

But bending your defense out of structure can create its own problems. You invite pressure, you invite chances and you pretty much invite chaos.

England essentially never held any meaningful spells of possession after scoring; they just let Argentina put together attack after attack. By the end of the match, Argentina had 1.84 xG, 64% possession, over 250 more accurate passes, triple the number of shots (15) and four times the amount of touches in England’s box (28). Jordan Pickford kept a couple of attempts out of the net, but he was never going to keep that up until the full time whistle.

The dam was bound to break eventually. And when it did, England were flooded.

It’s one thing to want to defend your lead, it’s another to play on your heels entirely. It felt like Tuchel just let Argentina have their way, putting too much trust in his defense — which hasn’t exactly been the strongest — and living with the results. That’s no way to win a game of this magnitude.

It’s like folding at the river with two kings because you fear the man across from you has pocket aces. You’re not trying to win, you’re trying to not lose.

Still, it doesn’t help that England got nothing offensively from start to finish. Only one big chance in the match, a mere seven touches in the Argentina box and two shots on goal isn’t going to cut it in a World Cup semi. Aside from the long ball that set up the English goal — Harry Kane was virtually nonexistent with just 26 touches, none of which came in the opposing box — and no successful dribbles. Jude Bellingham picked the worst time to turn in his worst shift of the tournament, only garnering a single successful tribble while losing over half (7-of-13) of his ground duels.

Jude Bellingham and England let this one slip away.

Simply put, if you told anyone that Kane and Bellingham would combine for 0.02 xG (all from the former) today, nobody would have picked England to win. As such, they got the result they deserved.

It’s a shame for an English team that inspired so many with their grit and determination all tournament long. And it may have been their best shot at ending their 60-year trophy drought; who knows what Harry Kane’s fitness will be in four years’ time, and England’s best young players not named Jude still have a long way to go. But that’s a story for 2030.

And so we have our matchup in the 2026 World Cup final; La Roja vs. La Albiceleste in a game with no shortage storylines and intricacies that we’ll get into as we get closer to Sunday.

In the meantime, England will play France on Saturday for the proverbial bronze medal of the tournament, living with the devastation that they could have finally brought football home this year.

Spain’s Semifinal Masterclass Proves They’re The Best Team In The World

Dominance at the highest level isn’t frequent, and that makes it all the more emphatic and impressive. It makes you feel something — either awe or envy or even gratitude that you get to witness greatness. Spain just gave us that feeling in spades, proving they are the best footballing nation in the world.

Cover photo taken from NBC News.

It’s fairly easy to ascertain when you’re watching the best in the world at something. Dominance at the highest level isn’t frequent, and that makes it all the more emphatic and impressive. It makes you feel something — either awe or envy or even gratitude that you get to witness greatness.

Spain just gave us that feeling in spades, proving they are the best footballing nation in the world and punching their ticket to their second ever World Cup final with a 2-0 win over France.

An early penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and a beautiful second-half finish from Pedro Porro provided the Spanish the cushion they needed to seal away the French, who looked as rattled and discombobulated as they ever have under Didier Deschamps.

I said in yesterday’s preview that Spain were more than capable of making France play their brand of football, suffocating them in the midfield and squeezing out their defensive opportunities while making the most of their attacking chances. But I could never have seen that formula come to fruition as prominently as it did on Tuesday afternoon in Arlington.

Though possession and passing totals were near dead even, this felt like one of the more lopsided contests between two squads of such high quality that I can remember. The Spaniards converted their 10 shots into 1.63 xG (helped by the aforementioned penalty) while France accrued a measly 0.30 xG from just as many attempts. They simply looked flustered from the word go, physically and mentally outmatched by the first side to match their intensity at this tournament.

Kylian Mbappe had absolutely nowhere to go with the few chances he had on the ball with just three successful dribbles out of eight, only accruing a drab 0.09 xG. Ousmane Dembele was a ghost until a couple of late brute force shots on net to try and muster up any sort of offense. Michael Olise closed out a brilliant tournament with a whimper, losing possession a whopping 2o times and failing to conjure up a single successful dribble with only 0.07 xA en route to being hooked after 72 minutes. Bradley Barcola essentially did an hour of cardio before being subbed out in the 57th minute.

In short, Spain shrunk one of the greatest attacking units we’ve ever seen into the most miniscule of threats.

Nowhere to run. (h/t Athlon Sports)

It’s a masterclass in midfield management and defensive dominance. Marc Cucurella was outstanding with seven defensive contributions and four tackles while winning four of seven ground duels. Rodri and Fabian Ruiz were infallible as always with a combined 13 defensive contributions, eight tackles, 12-of-19 ground duels won and 4-of-4 aerial duels won (all by Rodri). And Pedro Porro netted the aforementioned dagger in the 58th minute, slipping behind the sleeping French defense after a cheeky give-and-go with Dani Olmo.

It certainly helped that Spain’s attack put in a shift that was par for the course for them at this tournament, if not a little bit better. Oyarzabal continued his scoring ways while Dani Olmo picked up a massive assist and completed 29 of his 30 passes. But most importantly, Lamine Yamal left a much more tangible impact on the wing, winning the first-half penalty and keeping the French fullbacks honest with a couple of really good-looking runs — one of which led to a brilliant goal that was disallowed for a slight offside. It feels like his best is yet to come, and he’s in for a massive performance in the final on Sunday.

He just keeps scoring. (h/t Evening Standard)

France will undoubtedly be doing some soul-searching after having it snatched. This was a classic exposé of their deficiencies in midfield and defense — 90 minutes to completely forget if you’re anyone not named Adrien Rabiot, who didn’t even play the second half on a yellow card. Losing William Saliba to injury after 30 minutes didn’t help, but the seeds were already planted for the back line to be decimated. Lucas Digne in particular will face a healthy dose of criticism for his awful challenge which conceded the penalty and generally poor play.

But this is not all on any one Frenchman. As a collective, it was one of the worst performances they ever could have put together. And that’s why Spain deserve all the flowers for making it happen when it looked like France could and would bulldoze everyone in their path en route to another world championship.

Now, it’s La Roja who fit that description.

I certainly don’t envy England or Argentina. Your prize for grinding out a semifinal win is playing this Spanish team in the final? Sounds more like a punishment.

2026 World Cup Semifinals Preview

The top four teams in the world. A quartet of former champions. A rivalry with decades worth of bad blood. The budding football rivalry of the generation. Five of the tournament’s top six scorers. The GOAT and the heir apparent. Simply put, we have never seen a star-studded semi slate like this.

Cover photo taken from GMA Network.

We have reached the final four of a thrilling 2026 FIFA World Cup. And if I’m being honest, it’s the best semifinal lineup the world’s most prestigious sporting event has ever seen.

This is the first time since FIFA introduced its ranking system in 1992 that the teams ranked Nos. 1-4 have each made the semifinal. Each of these proud footballing nations have won a World Cup — a semifinal first since 1990. The four squads feature five of the tournament’s top six scorers, one of whom is heralded as the GOAT while another is chasing that title for himself.

Simply put, we have never seen a star-studded semi slate like this.

Les Bleus vs. La Roja in the budding football rivalry of the generation. The Three Lions vs. La Albiceleste in a rivalry that has decades worth of bad blood.

Lionel Messi and Argentina. Kylian Mbappe and France. Lamine Yamal and Spain. Jude Bellingham and England. All with their eyes set on the final on Sunday afternoon in New Jersey.

Buckle up, folks. This week is going to be a doozy.

France vs. Spain

Tuesday, July 14, 3 p.m. ET

I previewed this titanic showdown a few days ago, but there’s still so much more to be looked at within the margins of this showdown to determine what’ll separate these Goliaths tomorrow afternoon.

Truth be told, the pressure is on Spain in this match to do what they do best: control the pace of play, lock down the midfield and limit opposing chances. Luis de la Fuente’s side aren’t looking to live in the attacking third like Didier Deschamps’ French crew (although they do lead the tournament in touches in the opposing box). It took them all the way until the first half of their quarterfinal matchup with Belgium — a whopping 649 minutes — to concede a goal, and it’s safe to say they want that to be the only blemish on their record this summer.

And I honestly think they can accomplish that. They have the superior midfield when it comes to ball control even if Pedri doesn’t start or play a full 90 minutes. Their defense has been ironclad having allowed a miniscule 1.80 xG in six games, and they lead the tournament with an average of 66% possession per game. If there’s a team that can force the opposition into playing its brand of football, it’s Spain.

But you can go ahead and throw all of that out of the window when it comes to this France side. They are simply going to score, and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you give them an inch, they’ll take more than a mile. 14.3 xG and an average of 7.8 shots on goal in 27 total big chances at this tournament are numbers that shouldn’t make sense, but they do because this team has established a new norm.

They don’t need much to create an opportunity; something as simple as a giveaway to Michael Olise in the midfield can lead to an Mbappe or Ousmane Dembele goal in the blink of an eye, leaving the defense shell-shocked.

You can’t stop them. You can only hope to contain them. (h/t Roundtable)

That’s what I’m choosing to back. At the end of the day, this game is about scoring. And there’s no more prolific attacking team than the French, who are putting together one of the most unstoppable attacks I’ve ever seen at this level. The Spanish, on the other hand, just haven’t put that side of the ball together with only 17 big chances at this tournament. Yamal is still yet to provide that signature performance, and this run of late-game heroics isn’t a sustainable formula at this stage of the tournament.

de la Fuente is a winner through and through, having never lost any of his 13 major tournament games, seven of which have been knockout matches. But France are just as used to victories, roaring into their third consecutive semifinal. And I just think their attacking pedigree will prove to be the difference against a Spanish side that, quite frankly, still hasn’t put together its best form yet. If that attack figures itself out, Spain should be in the driver’s seat in this game. But if they find themselves playing from behind, it could get really uncomfortable really quickly. So, give me another pair of Mbappe and Dembele goals as Les Bleus reach a monumental third consecutive World Cup final.

Prediction: France win 2-1

England vs. Argentina

Wednesday, July 15, 3 p.m. ET

Speaking of unsustainable winning formulas, is anyone else getting the feeling that this Argentina pixie dust is about to wear off? Just me?

I’m just not very impressed by this side. For starters, they’ve made a six-game path to the semifinal where the highest-ranked team they played was No. 19 Switzerland look excruciatingly difficult. They have relied on a heaping of beneficial officiating decisions — from a bizarre VAR redirect leading to a red card for Switzerland to an unfathomable disallowing of a wonderful Egypt goal and everything in between. Let’s just say it’s not surprising that Argentina lead this tournament in penalties; weird to think that Messi has missed two of them.

I don’t know if this team is capable of putting together 90 good minutes against a team of relative quality, and that would scare me if I were a fan of them. But, they can score with the best of them, leading the tournament with 17 goals and reaching three in five of their six contests.

That’s not to say that England have been the most impressive side either. Thomas Tuchel would be the first to tell you that this team hasn’t played up to par and is leaving plenty of meat on the bone (just don’t relay that sentiment to Jude Bellingham).

But what they have more than any team at this tournament is grit and determination. As such, they’ve won four games in a row for the first time since they brought football home in 1966. Wins against DR Congo, Mexico and Norway were absolute grinds highlighted by resilience and — as Tuchel would highlight — mental fortitude.

This is an English team playing some of the most inspired ball that you can find, led by Bellingham, who is changing the game at age 23. He’s the first player since Maradona in ’86, ironically, to score two or more goals in consecutive knockout games with a total that has ballooned to six. That matches Harry Kane’s number as the two have become the first duo to ever score six apiece at a World Cup.

Jude Bellingham is transcending the game. (h/t Goal.com)

In any case, this might shape up to be the more dramatic of the two semifinals sheerly based on the vitriol these two nations share for each other. A heated 1966 quarterfinal where former England manager Alf Ramsey tried to stop swappings of shirts with the Argentinian players after a win that helped propel them to their lone World Cup victory. The infamous “Hand of God” goal from Diego Maradona in the quarterfinal that’s stamped in every football fan’s brain as one of the cornerstone moments in the history of the sport. David Beckham’s likely undeserved 1998 red card for hardly kicking Diego Simeone, then the Englishman’s winning penalty for revenge four years later. What does the latest installment in the rivalry have to offer?

Probably not the greatest quality of football you’ll ever see, but there will be no shortage of theatrics. Neither side’s ability to play a complete game has led to some of the most exciting moments of the tournament, and I expect that to continue on Wednesday afternoon. These are the only two semifinalists that have allowed more than two goals, each conceding six along the way. Each side’s star players have been the proverbial Flex Seal on the leaking water tanks, so what gives?

I think it’s the aforementioned grit of the Three Lions. They’re the likelier team simply because it feels like they want it more. While Argentina have been getting by against vastly inferior competition, England have been getting their hands dirty and winning by all means necessary. I think they are the hungrier dog in this fight, and I think that will be the prevailing factor after 90-120 minutes of back-and-forth action.

Prediction: England advance on penalties, 2-2 AET

outro

France-Spain Is The World Cup Climax We Deserve

Some collision courses are inevitable. France and Spain have been on an extended one for years now. And these squads are going to provide us with what might just be the true climax of a World Cup that has surpassed all the hype.

Cover photo taken from ESPN.

Some collision courses are inevitable. France and Spain have been on an extended one for years now.

It started with Les Bleus’ 2-1 victory in the 2021 Nations League Final before Spain returned the favor with the same scoreline in the 2024 Euro semifinal. Things boiled over a touch in the final of last year’s Nations League tournament with a wacky 5-4 Spanish victory. And coming into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, many a prognosticator predicted that these same two footballing titans would clash once again in the knockout rounds.

Well, here we are.

Rivals Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe will face off once again on July 14 in Dallas. (h/t ESPN)

It’s honestly a shame that the bracket seeding prevented this from being the final, because it feels like that’s what this should be. That’s nothing against the four brilliant squads on the other side of the bracket — England, Norway and especially Argentina can definitely find themselves lifting the trophy in nine days’ time. But coming into this tournament, France and Spain were undoubtedly the co-favorites to bring glory home.

Now, only one can reach that final stage.

The French have arrived at this juncture by following their tried and true formula: keep playing it forward, and the goals will come. 22 shots and nine shots on target embodied that in their 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco. Despite missing a first-half penalty, Kylian Mbappe curled a peach of a strike into the far corner to thrust France ahead before Ousmane Dembele provided the dagger with a perfectly-placed roller into the bottom right. That gave the all-world duo eight and five goals, respectively, at this tournament, becoming the first tandem to reach such a figure since Ronaldo and Rivaldo did it for Brazil in 2002. And when you add Michael Olise to the mix, the trio’s 23 goal involvements top that of those two and Ronaldinho 24 years ago. Oh, and that pushed the French scoring total to 16 in six games with just two being conceded. Pretty, pretty good.

Mbappe having 20 World Cup goals in as many appearances is asinine no matter how you slice it. He is likely the best World Cup performer we’ve ever seen, shining blindingly bright in just his third appearance on the ultimate global stage. Only a higher power knows what that total will be 10 years from now.

He just keeps scoring. (h/t AP Photo)

Spain once again needed some late-match heroics to pull past an opponent they could’ve and should’ve beaten more soundly, but they’ll take the result no matter what. Friday’s 2-1 win over Belgium featured their first goal conceded at the tournament, but it really never felt like the Spanish were going to lose. They won the xG battle 2.04 to 0.36, had 17 shots and eight shots on target and dominated possession with 68%.

But this reinforces the common issue that Spain have had at this tournament: it just doesn’t look like they’ve put it together yet. They’re getting by because they’re so dang good, but we just need more out of that attack. They don’t lack for chances, but the finishing needs to improve to keep up with a squad like France.

Maybe Lamine Yamal can finally catch his stride. It’s been a very lackluster summer for the player many hail as the best in the world. If he wants to retain that title, or perhaps snatch it back from Mbappe, he’ll need a signature performance on Tuesday afternoon. It’s not that he’s been bad — he’s actually won several Man of the Match awards and his impact on the game can’t be understated — but the production simply hasn’t been there. The good news for him is that he’s undefeated against Mbappe in single-elimination knockout games across club and country. The bad news is that this will be far tougher than all of those matchups.

In any case, the reality is that these squads are going to provide us with what might just be the true climax of a World Cup that has surpassed all the hype. And that’s what we as the fans deserve. I have no doubt that Norway-England will be a tremendous game, and the subsequent semifinal and eventual final will be the same level of theater that the rest of the tournament has given us.

But it’s the collision course that catches our gaze. And this is the one we’ve been waiting for this whole time.