Lautaro Martinez headed Argentina to a 2-1 comeback victory over England to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.
Martinez headed in the 92nd-minute winner from Lionel Messi’s cross to complete Argentina’s comeback win, after Enzo Fernandez equalised with a 85th-minute strike from Messi’s cutback pass.
England initially took a 55th-minute lead through Anthony Gordon’s close-range finish of Morgan Rogers’ cross.
Argentina will now meet Spain in the final on Sunday 19 July at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, USA, at 3pm EDT (20:00 BST), after the reigning European champions beat France 2-0 in the opening semi-final.
England meanwhile will meet France at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, USA, on Saturday 18 July at 5pm EDT (22:00pm BST).
With a storied history on and off the pitch between England and Argentina and tense verbal “usurping pirates” mud-slinging from Argentina Vice-President – Victoria Villarruel in the build-up, it was no surprise that tensions flared just three minutes after Enzo Fernandez recklessly fouled Elliot Anderson.
Tensions rose further in the 12th minute as Leandro Paredes brought down Anderson then bizarrely feigned a scuffle of legs and slumped onto the top of Anderson, yet referee – Ismail Elfath wasn’t amused at his desperate antics.
Such was the stop-start nature of the first half with dirty tackles and moaning from Argentina, there wasn’t much in the way of chances in the opening half hour which marked the first time since World Cup stats began in 1966 that neither team managed an attempt in the opening half hour.
England eventually ended that stat in the 33rd minute as John Stones nodded wide of the right corner from Declan Rice’s free-kick, after Jude Bellingham had been fouled out wide to the left flank.
Argentina then registered their first attempt just five minutes later as Fernandez fired a shot over the top-left corner, before his random claim of deflection and request for a corner was casually dismissed by Elfath as neither team subsequently broke the deadlock before half time.
Just two minutes into the second half, Julian Alvarez saw a low shot towards the right corner blocked by Jordan Pickford before he then fired into the side-netting.
Paredes then blasted a low shot wide of the box off target of the bottom-left corner in the 54th minute.
Argentina’s resistance however proved their undoing a minute later as Harry Kane saw a long ball scruffily cleared to Bellingham, who teed up Rogers with a cross which Gordon volleyed in off his right foot into his near-left corner to put England in front.
Alvarez attempted to spark an Argentinean fightback just two minutes later but Djed Spence timed a tackle to perfection which left Alvarez peeved when Elfath awarded a goal kick.
Fernandez twice curled wide whilst substitute, Nico Gonzalez saw a 69th-minute header flapped away by Pickford.
England however nearly doubled their lead just three minutes earlier as Reece James teed up Declan Rice whose low strike was saved by Emiliano Martinez.
Argentina made a triple change in the 72nd minute which almost paid dividends just three minutes later as Mac Allister headed onto the left post, then straight into Pickford’s arms from crosses by Rodrigo De Paul.
Messi then played Gonzalez forward in the 78th minute which saw the latter loop a header over Pickford yet the ball bounced wide across the goal, much to Argentina’s frustrations.
England manager, Thomas Tuchel responded to Argentina’s pressure with a switch to a back-five defence as Messi curled a shot wide of the top-left corner in the 84th minute.
Fernandez then saw a 85th-minute strike from long range tipped over by Pickford, which led Messi to play a short corner before he cut back for Fernandez to curl a shot from 20 yards into the left corner to restore parity.
Argentina continued to press and Mac Allister hit the right post which fell for Messi who whipped a cross in for Martinez to nod in to complete their comeback to reach a third final in the four recent World Cups.
Teams
England: Jordan Pickford, Reece James (Burn 82′), John Stones (Toney 96′), Marc Guehi, Djed Spence (Rashford 96′), Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice (O’Reilly 82′), Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon (Konsa 72′), Harry Kane
Substitutes: Dan Burn, Trevoh Chalobah, Eberechi Eze, Jordan Henderson, Dean Henderson, Ezri Konsa, Noni Madueke, Kobbie Mainoo, Nico O’Reilly, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney, James Trafford, Ollie Watkins
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Nahuel Molina (Montiel 72′), Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez (Otamendi 72′), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lautaro Martinez 81′), Giuliano Simeone (De Paul 72′), Leandro Paredes (Gonzalez 64′), Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez
Substitutes: Thiago Almada, Valentin Barco, Rodrigo De Paul, Nicolas Gonzalez, Giovanni Lo Celso, Jose Manuel Lopez, Lautaro Martinez, Facundo Medina, Gonzalo Montiel, Juan Musso, Nicolas Otamendi, Exequiel Palacios, Nico Paz, Geronimo Rulli, Marcos Senesi
Referee – Ismail Elfath (USA)