Emiliano Martinez believes that Argentina’s “experience of coming back from losing positions” helped them beat England to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.
Anthony Gordon fired England ahead with a 55th-minute finish from Morgan Rogers’ cross, before Enzo Fernandez’s 85th minute strike and a 92nd-minute header from Lautaro Martinez completed Argentina’s comeback courtesy of assists from Lionel Messi.
Martinez – who coincidentally plays his club football for England’s Aston Villa – post match explained to BBC Sport that he felt that his team had dominated the Three Lions in the first half and early into the second half.
It was crazy. I thought we played really well in the first half. We dominated them. We know how strong they are in set-pieces and how physical they are. I’ve played there for 16 years and I know them really well.
“We moved the ball well. They went in front with one cross into the box with only one in the box and they scored.”
The 33 year-old however had seen Argentina come from behind to beat Egypt 3-2 at the Round of 16 stage in this tournament, which he believed was a crucial psychological edge alongside shifting Messi out onto the right wing in a tactical change.
“We had the experience of coming back form losing positions. They started defending a little bit deeper and that gave us a bit of an advantage through the lines.
“Getting Messi on the wing was the key for us.”
Martinez also felt that the momentum shift following England’s opener was another factor in their comeback as he criticised Thomas Tuchel’s naive decision to go defensive.
“We felt it. We felt them going backwards and backwards rather than going forward. Sometimes when you are winning, you have to go forward anyway. You can’t change the gameplan. I think they did it and they put extra defenders.”
Argentina nevertheless are now into their third final in the four recent editions of the World Cup – having previously reached the showpiece match against Germany then France in 2014 and 2022 respectively, with Martinez just glad to again be involved in the title decider.
“It’s special. It’s special to win it. It’s special for my country, family and team-mates. To be in back-to-back World Cup finals, it means whatever we have done is in the right path. I am so proud of everyone, especially my family.”
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