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atlanta, 16 July. Defending champions Argentina made an extraordinary comeback after trailing by a goal till the 84th minute against England in the second semi-final of the FIFA World Cup 2026 here on Wednesday and secured a place in the final for the second consecutive time and seventh time with the help of a 2-1 victory with a stoppage time goal. The three-time champion Latin American team will now face European powerhouse Spain for title defense on Sunday.

After a goalless first half, Anthony Gordon opened England’s account in the 55th minute.

The first half of this exciting match played at the Atlanta Stadium ended in a goalless draw. After the interval, England took the lead with a goal by Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute. England maintained this lead for the next 30 minutes and gave Argentina a boost.

Fernandez gave Argentina an equaliser, while Martínez scored the decisive goal.

But Enzo Fernandez equalized for Argentina in the 85th minute on a pass from great captain Lionel Messi and in the second minute of stoppage time, substitute Lautaro Martínez put the final seal on the team’s thrilling victory with a header from Messi’s own cross.

Captain Lionel Messi again shines, helps in both the team’s goals

Talking about Argentinian captain Lionel Messi, after struggling in the first half, he showed his talent in the last moments of the second half and helped in both the team’s goals. Messi lost the ball to opponents 15 times in the first half, which was his worst performance in a major tournament since 2018.

But in the final moments of the match under immense pressure, he showed why he is considered one of the greatest players in the world. This was the reason why he was once again declared the best player of the match.

In the first half, both teams were struggling to make effective moves.

If we look at the match, most of the time in the first half, both the teams were seen struggling to make effective moves, due to which neither the goalkeepers faced any problem. Both teams started aggressively but also adopted a cautious approach, resulting in eight fouls in the opening 12 minutes, but not a single shot on goal. Argentina committed five fouls while England committed three fouls.

Argentina’s players had more possession of the ball in the first 20 minutes, but the team failed to make any effective moves. However, the Argentine team was fortunate that despite the rough play of its players, none of its players were shown yellow cards in the first 30 minutes.

Enzo Fernandez fouled Elliot Anderson in the fourth minute and then Jude Bellingham in the team’s penalty area in the 32nd minute, but American referee Ismail Elfeth did not show him a yellow card. England got a free kick in the 37th minute due to a foul by the Argentinian player. James tried to cross it goalwards from the left, but Emiliano Martínez easily cleared the danger.

The British deliberately tried to foul against Messi.

Captain Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon tried to commit a deliberate foul against Lionel Messi. In this sequence, Anderson was shown the first yellow card of the match for committing a foul against the Argentinian giant. Referee Elfeth also showed Argentina’s Lisandro Martínez a yellow card for pulling on Morgan Rogers in the 42nd minute. Bellingham meanwhile took the ball forward on Spence’s pass, but Argentina’s defense easily thwarted his attempt.

At the beginning of the second half, Julian Alvarez took a shot on goal after Messi’s pass, Pickford got a hand on it and Argentina appealed for a corner. But nothing happened from this. After this, in the 50th minute, Christian Romero got a yellow card for stopping Jude Bellingham while moving towards the goal.

Argentina had the ball in England’s half and in the 54th minute, Paredes had a shot which went wide. England took the lead on the counterattack, when Anthony Gordon ran at the right time and deflected Rogers’ cross past Amy Martínez.

In the 58th minute of the match, Spence made a brilliant tackle to prevent Simeone from scoring, who was moving towards the goal from the right side. Argentina made a change in the 64th minute with Nico Gonzalez coming on to replace Paredes. Gonzalez headed in a brilliant cross from Messi’s corner, but Pickford blocked it.

Argentina team looked more aggressive with 4 changes after hydration break

After the hydration break, Argentina made four changes and in this sequence De Paul and Lautaro Martínez came on the field. This is where Argentina’s game started looking a little more aggressive. In the 79th minute, England tried to move forward quickly, but Rogers’ shot hit the defender.

To be honest, there were a few nervous minutes for Pickford in the final moments. In this sequence, Argentina got the corner. A move was made from the corner and Enzo Fernandez scored the equalizer with a powerful shot from outside the box. VAR was used and the goal was deemed fair. After this, nine minutes of stoppage time was given and soon Lautaro Martínez sealed Argentina’s victory by hitting a header on Messi’s cross.

The bronze medal fight between England and France will be held in Florida on Saturday.

Defending runners-up France, who lost to Spain in the first semi-final, will face England for the bronze medal at Miami Gardens, Florida on Saturday (July 18). The final between Argentina and Spain will be played on Sunday at the MetLife Stadium near New York City.