Argentina sealed their place in Sunday's World Cup final with a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over England, maintaining their perfect record of advancing from all six of their World Cup semi-final appearances.
The fierce rivalry between these two nations was evident from kickoff, with seven fouls whistled inside the opening ten minutes as both teams initially showed reluctance to commit players forward. The cagey approach appeared to favour Argentina in the stop-start rhythm of the contest, though England signalled their attacking intent when some tricky running from Jude Bellingham earned a free-kick that John Stones headed narrowly wide.
Enzo Fernandez came closest to breaking the deadlock before the interval with a powerful strike that flew just over the crossbar, but with only three total shots managed across the opening 45 minutes, a goalless half-time scoreline felt inevitable.
Julian Alvarez injected life into the match immediately after the restart, testing Jordan Pickford at his near post. But it was England who struck first on 55 minutes when Declan Rice found Morgan Rogers surging down the right flank. Rogers delivered a perfect cross to the far post where Anthony Gordon peeled away from his marker and guided home from close range, sending the red and white section of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium into raptures.
Falling behind for only the second time in World Cup action since their 2022 group-stage defeat to Saudi Arabia injected real urgency into Argentina's play. Pickford displayed lightning reflexes to deny Nicolas Gonzalez from nodding in a Lionel Messi cross, before Alexis Mac Allister rattled the post from Rodrigo De Paul's delivery, reigniting belief among the Argentine faithful.
Fernandez then let fly from long range, forcing Pickford into a tipping save over the bar. From the resulting corner, the ball found Fernandez again, and this time he buried his finish into the far corner from outside the area to draw Argentina level.
What followed carried an air of inevitability as Argentina dominated the closing stages and crushed English resistance. Mac Allister struck the post for a second time before Messi swung in a cross that found an unmarked Lautaro Martinez, who nodded into the open net to complete the comeback. England had no answer.
The defeat leaves England devastated at falling at the penultimate hurdle for the third time since they last lifted the World Cup trophy. Argentina will now face France in Miami rather than England heading to a third major tournament final in five years. Manager Lionel Scaloni has the opportunity to become just the second coach to win multiple World Cups at the showpiece final in New York — Argentina's first meeting with Spain in this competition since 1966.
Lionel Messi was named Flashscore Man of the Match for his instrumental role in Argentina's stirring victory.