England 1–2 Argentina: World Cup Semifinal Recap, Result & How Our Picks Did
England led a World Cup semifinal into the final 35 minutes and still walked off beaten. Anthony Gordon put Thomas Tuchel's side ahead at Atlanta Stadium, and for an hour it looked like the golden generation had finally found its night — until Lionel Messi took the game over. Two assists in the last five-plus minutes turned a 1–0 deficit into a 2–1 win for the reigning world champions, and Argentina are back in the final. One of our three angles landed, but it was the one that mattered. Here is how it happened and how our picks graded — and Argentina reached the MetLife final, where they lost 1–0 to Spain after extra time on July 19.
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How Argentina turned it late in Atlanta
For most of this semifinal, England were the better team. They took the lead in the 55th minute when Morgan Rogers slid a cross in from the flank and Anthony Gordon arrived to finish it, and the goal fit the game they had played: controlled, patient, and a shade sharper than the holders in the final third. With just over half an hour to go, Tuchel's side were 35 minutes from a World Cup final and looking every bit the deeper attacking group we described going in.
Then the game found the one player capable of bending it. Lionel Messi had been managed carefully all tournament, but in the closing stretch he produced the masterclass that has defined his career. In the 85th minute he slipped the ball to Enzo Fernández, who finished the equaliser for 1–1 and swung the momentum entirely Argentina's way. The winner came in the second minute of stoppage time: Messi again the creator, this time a cross that Lautaro Martínez met with a header to make it 2–1. Two assists inside the last five-plus minutes, and a game England had controlled was gone.
This was Argentina's tournament identity in miniature — stay calm, stay in the game, and let the biggest occasion bring out the biggest players. England led and let it slip late; Argentina, the reigning world champions, reach a second straight World Cup final and now chase back-to-back titles. It was cruel on a side that did so much right for an hour, but it was the sort of ending this fixture has produced before.
How our picks did
Three angles went into this one. Only one landed — but it was the headline call, and it came in the hardest way.
- Argentina to advance — won. The lead pick cashed. It took a late comeback and a Messi masterclass rather than the shootout we anticipated, but the ticket that mattered most came through.
- Kane anytime scorer — lost. England's goal came from Anthony Gordon off a Morgan Rogers cross, not from the captain. Kane could not find the finish, and this one missed.
- Under 2.5 goals — lost. The game-flow read did not hold. Three goals and a late thriller pushed this comfortably over, undone by Argentina's stoppage-time surge.
One from three on the card, but the pick we led with — Argentina to advance — is the one that decided the night.
How the final ended: Spain 1–0 Argentina (AET)
The final everyone wanted arrived in New Jersey's own backyard. Argentina met Spain on Sunday, July 19, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford — the reigning world champions against the reigning Euro champions — but this time the fairytale did not come. Spain won 1–0 after extra time to lift the trophy an hour from Manhattan.
Argentina went for back-to-back World Cups, but Spain's clean-sheet run held one more time, Ferran Torres settling it in the 106th minute off a Nico Williams assist. Lionel Messi's final World Cup ended in defeat. With the tournament now over, the forward markets at NJ books turn to the next World Cup cycle and the fall NFL season. Confirm every number in the FanDuel or Fanatics app before you bet.
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All World Cup coverage is on the World Cup 2026 betting hub. The other semifinal: France 0–2 Spain recap & how our picks did.