Argentina overcome England 2-1 to reach World Cup final: Stats
What's the story
England's dream of reaching a FIFA World Cup final for the first time since 1966 was shattered by Argentina's stunning late comeback in Atlanta. The match ended with a scoreline of 2-1, thanks to Lautaro Martinez's 92nd-minute winner. Anthony Gordon had put England ahead early in the second half, but two quick-fire goals from Argentina turned the tide in their favor.
Match dynamics
Messi guides Argentina past England
England manager Thomas Tuchel's defensive substitutions backfired as Argentina took control of the game.
Enzo Fernandez equalized with a stunning long-range strike in the 85th minute, before substitute Martinez scored the winner in stoppage time.
Lionel Messi assisted both goals, showcasing his influence on the match.
Despite leading from the 55th minute, England could not hold on to their lead and will now play France in Saturday's third-place playoff.
Future matches
Argentina set to defend World Cup title against Spain
The defeat leaves England with regrets of a disjointed World Cup campaign, especially their failure to maintain an attacking approach after taking the lead.
Argentina will now face Spain in the final on Sunday, a highly anticipated clash that will mark Messi's last World Cup appearance.
The match promises to be a fitting finale as Lionel Scaloni's side seeks to defend their title against the European champions.
Messi
Messi vs England: Decoding his match numbers
As per Squawka, Messi had 94 touches versus England and completed 43/54 successful passes.
He also won 12 duels and had 9/11 successful take-ons (most).
Messi also had 7 touches in the opposition box (most) and went on to create 4 chances (most).
Messi also created 2 big chances and made 2 assists.
As per Opta, Messi became the first player on record (from 1966) to do complete nine dribbles and make two assists in a single FIFA World Cup knockout game.
Information
Here are the match stats
England created one big chance compared to Argentina's three. From 15 attempts, Argentina had 5 shots on target. England managed two shots on target from 5 attempts. Argentina hit the woodwork twice. In terms of touches in the opposition box, Argentina managed 28 with England having just 5.
Messi
FIFA WC 2026: Messi owns 8 goals and 4 assists
In the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026, Messi is now involved in 12 goals.
Besides scoring 8 times, he has made four assists from 7 games.
He overtook Kylian Mbappe, who has been involved in 11 goals from 7 matches (G8 A3).
Overall in World Cup history, Messi has been involved in 33 goals. In addition to scoring 21 times, he has made 12 assists.
Notably, 10 of his World Cup assists have come in the knockout stages.
Duo
Key numbers for Martinez and Fernandez
Making his 84th appearance for Argentina, Inter striker Martinez has raced to 40 goals.
He also scored his 3rd World Cup goal with all of them coming in the 2026 edition.
Fernandez scored his 8th goal in Argentina colors from 48 appearances.
He scored his 2nd goal of the ongoing World Cup. Overall, he owns three World Cup goals (also one in 2022).
Records
Sorry feats attained by England
As per Opta, the average possession between Gordon's opener and Martínez's winner (55th to 92nd minute) was 88% for Argentina and 12% for England.
England have now been eliminated every time they have faced a top 10 ranked nation in the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup since 1998 (7/7).
For the 2nd time, a team scoring first in the semi-final failed to reach the final of the World Cup in the 21st century.
Both of them are England (vs Croatia in 2018 and Argentina in 2026).
Do you know?
England fail to break semis hurdle
Having won their first FIFA World Cup semi-final in 1966, England have now lost each of their last three matches at this stage (1990, 2018, 2026).
Information
Spain and Argentina to lock horns
The 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina will be the first ever summit clash in this global tournament between the reigning UEFA European champions, and the reigning CONMEBOL Copa America champions.
Key
What were the key moments in ENG-ARG semi-final clash?
John Stones clocked the 1st shot in the match (33') as he headed wide from Declan Rice's free-kick.
Nineteen fouls, two yellow cards and no shots on target, were the stats at half-time.
In the 47th minute, Julian Alvarez tested Jordan Pickford at the near post. It was the first shot on target.
Gordon then handed England the lead from Rogers' cross (55').
Nico Gonzalez forced Pickford into a fine save (69') before Alexis Mac Allister hit the post (76').
Fernandez scored the leveler next before Mac Allister hit the post again.
Martinez then scored the winning goal.