Argentina eliminated Switzerland by a 3-1 score in Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal, setting up a blockbuster semifinal date with England in Atlanta.
The Wednesday matchup at Atlanta Stadium pits Lionel Messi’s bid for a second straight title against a nation that has not won a World Cup for 60 years â Jude Bellingham’s surging England side. The prize, a place in the final.
Argentina’s quarterfinal against Switzerland kicked off Saturday at 9 p.m. ET at Kansas City Stadium, with the defending champions entering as the tournament’s top scoring threat behind Messi and his latest Golden Boot chase. Switzerland arrived having conceded just three goals all tournament, built on a defensive identity that had frustrated bigger names all summer.
The Argentina-England semifinal is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Wednesday, July 15, according to Fox Sports, with the winner advancing to face either France or Spain in the July 19 final at New York/New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. Spain reached that semifinal by beating Belgium 2-1 on a late Mikel Merino goal, and will face France on Tuesday, July 14, in Dallas.
England secured its semifinal berth earlier Saturday, grinding past Norway 2-1 in extra time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Bellingham scored both goals, including the eventual winner three minutes into extra time off a rebound. Norway had led on an Andreas Schjelderup strike before Bellingham leveled it right before halftime.
“The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four, it’s amazing,” Tuchel said, as quoted by Al Jazeera, though he added his team made things unnecessarily difficult on itself.
A meeting between Argentina and England bears the weight of history beyond this tournament, given a rivalry stretching back to Diego Maradona’s 1986 quarterfinal heroics and David Beckham’s sending-off in 1998. Neither of those meetings involved a spot in the final, raising the stakes on a matchup already featuring two of the sport’s most closely watched active stars.
Messi’s Path to Back-to-Back Titles
Messi entered the quarterfinal round leading the tournament in scoring, according to Goal.com, part of an Argentina attack that has repeatedly needed comebacks to survive, including a 3-2 escape against Egypt in the round of 16. At 39, Messi remains Argentina’s central creative force, dropping deep to link play rather than simply chasing goals.
Switzerland presented a different puzzle than Argentina’s earlier opponents, built around defensive discipline, and had advanced past Colombia on penalties after a scoreless 120 minutes. That defensive approach made Saturday’s quarterfinal a departure from the track meets Argentina had grown accustomed to winning.
England Eyes First Final Since 1966
A win over Argentina would send England to its first World Cup final since the nation’s only title in 1966, a drought that has defined generations of English soccer heartbreak. Bellingham’s tournament has now included match-defining goals in three separate knockout rounds, elevating him into the conversation with Kane as England’s most indispensable attacker this summer.
Norway’s exit ended a surprise run for a nation that had never previously reached a World Cup quarterfinal, powered by Erling Haaland’s tournament-long scoring binge. Haaland was held scoreless Saturday and substituted after the first of extra period, closing out Norway’s breakout summer.
England now turns its attention entirely to Argentina, a matchup that will measure Bellingham’s rising star power against the sport’s most decorated active player on one of the World Cup’s biggest remaining stages.
Wednesday’s semifinal will mark the latest chapter in a rivalry that has produced some of the World Cup’s most enduring moments, and neither side figures to treat Atlanta lightly.
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