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The knockout stage of the World Cup began on Sunday evening, with co-hosts Canada recording one of the most significant victories in their football history as Stephen Eustaquio scored a stoppage-time winner to defeat South Africa.

The remainder of the round of 32 fixtures will unfold over the next five days. Teams can now see their potential routes to the final more clearly, following a group stage that produced numerous complex scenarios involving third-place finishers, creating a web of possible outcomes.

England will meet one of those third-place teams, DR Congo, on Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta. Thomas Tuchel’s men managed to avoid one of the tournament’s traditional heavyweights in the first knockout round, but when could they possibly come up against Lionel Messi and his formidable Argentina side?

Lionel Messi, who turned 39 last week, has been the standout performer of the competition so far. With six goals during the group stage, he now leads the all-time World Cup goalscoring charts.

Argentina cruised through their group, winning all three matches, earning a last-32 tie against surprise package Cape Verde. Both England and Argentina are widely expected to progress to the last-16 stage.

Should England advance, they would face the winners of Tuesday night’s Mexico vs Ecuador encounter, a result that could set up a daunting clash against the co-hosts at the iconic Azteca Stadium. On the other side, Argentina would meet the victors of Australia vs Egypt, a fixture that could deliver a highly anticipated showdown between Mohamed Salah and Lionel Messi.

The paths of England and Argentina would not intersect in the quarter-finals either. England could instead meet Brazil at that stage, provided the Selecao first overcome Japan on Monday night and then defeat the winners of Tuesday’s Ivory Coast vs Norway match.

In Argentina’s section of the draw, the quarter-final would feature the winners of a last-16 tie between either Switzerland or Algeria, or Colombia or Ghana.

If results unfold as expected, England and Argentina could set up a semi-final clash in Atlanta on Wednesday, July 15.

If that scenario materialises, it would mark Lionel Messi’s first-ever match against England in his illustrious 21-year international career, during which he has earned 202 caps for La Albiceleste.

The two nations have not faced each other since a friendly in November 2005, when England triumphed 3-2 in Geneva thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney and a Michael Owen brace. At that time, an 18-year-old Messi had only recently made his senior debut for Argentina against Hungary — a match that lasted less than a minute before he was shown a straight red card, ruling him out of the friendly against England.

If England and Argentina were to meet again, it would mark their sixth World Cup encounter and revive one of international football’s fiercest rivalries. Among their most memorable meetings was the 1986 quarter-final, which featured Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal followed by his breathtaking solo effort. The 1998 last-16 clash also remains iconic for Michael Owen’s stunning run, David Beckham’s controversial red card, and yet another England defeat in a penalty shootout.