🇦🇷 Argentina has one match left.

The story · Finalist; final against Spain scheduled for July 19

Defending champion Argentina won all three Group J matches: 3-0 against Algeria, 2-0 against Austria and 3-1 against Jordan. Lionel Messi scored all five goals in the first two games, including a hat-trick against Algeria. In the round of 32, Argentina needed extra time to beat Cape Verde 3-2. It recovered from a 2-0 deficit against Egypt in the round of 16 and won 3-2 in a match accompanied by refereeing protests; FIFA later defended the VAR decisions. In the quarter-final, Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1 after extra time, benefiting from part of the second half at eleven against ten after Breel Embolo’s controversial dismissal. England led the semi-final 1-0 until the 85th minute. Messi then supplied Enzo Fernández for the equalizer and crossed for Lautaro Martínez’s winning header in stoppage time. Argentina reached the final with seven victories, nineteen goals scored and seven conceded. Its resilience repeatedly compensated for periods of defensive instability.

From the tournament notebook

The semi-final was the first match of Messi’s career against England.

Sources ↗

Reporting through 2026-07-15