Lionel Messi sets up stunning World Cup comeback, Argentina in final, did Tuchel cause England collapse?
Lionel Messi and Argentina will play Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday after they scored twice in six minutes and 24 seconds at the end of a ferocious semifinal to break England hearts.
England had led from the 55th minute through Anthony Gordon and looked set for a first final since 1966 but as they dropped deeper and deeper, Enzo Fernandez curled in a stunning equaliser from outside the box on 85 minutes and then substitute Lautaro Martinez headed home in the second minute of stoppage time, with Messi assisting both goals. He now has 65 World Cup assists an all-time record.
It was a game that began in fury and ended in chaos, with Argentina now scoring 11 times from the 75th minute onwards at this tournament.
The two teams had not played for 21 years but the build-up to the game focused on the bitter conflicts of the past, including World Cup controversies and the Falklands War, which is referenced in songs sung by Argentina players and fans.
Argentina made a physical start to the contest and the first flashpoint came when England midfielder Elliot Anderson was hit from behind by Enzo Fernandez, with Jude Bellingham suggesting to U.S. referee Ismail Elfath that his team-mate had been struck in the back of the head with an arm.
No action was taken at that point but the aggression continued with 12 fouls and no shots in the opening 30 minutes of the game — a record for a World Cup match according to Opta (whose records run to 1966) — before Anderson was booked for bringing down Messi and Lisandro Martinez saw yellow for holding back Morgan Rogers.
The game opened up in the second half with England taking the lead when Gordon steered in Morgan Rogers’ cross from the right on 55 minutes and then relying on a super Djed Spence challenge and two very good Jordan Pickford saves to hold onto the lead.
But that resistance couldn’t last, Argentina and Messi took greater and greater control with Fernandez crashing in the equaliser and Lautaro Martinez completing an incredible comeback.
Argentina will play Spain in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey on Sunday. England will play France in the bronze medal match in Miami on Saturday.
Here The Athletic’s Oliver Kay, Tim Spiers, Felipe Cardenas, Thom Harris, Anantaajith Raghuraman and refereeing expert Graham Scott break down the key moments.
Can Messi win another World Cup?
There was a moment, with seven minutes remaining, when Lionel Messi found himself racing back towards the halfway line with Nico O’Reilly, 18 years his junior, to retrieve a loose ball. He got there first — just — but he looked exhausted by the effort. Argentina were 1-0 down and his pursuit of a second World Cup seemed to be drifting to an unsatisfactory end.
He had made relatively little impact on the game. There were moments of skill and invention — there are always those moments — but England’s defenders had contained his threat.
And then, as against Egypt here last week, Messi took control. He didn’t score either goal, but he made them both, drawing defenders too him and picking out an unmarked Enzo Fernandez to score from distance for the equaliser and then producing a wonderful cross — with his right foot, no less — to pick out Lautaro Martinez for the winner.
People used to say of Messi that he couldn’t deliver for Argentina when the pressure was on. What a joke that sounds like now. His quest for a second World Cup title will culminate in Sunday’s final against Spain at MetLife Stadium. At times it seems written in the stars, but no, Messi writes his own scripts.
Oliver Kay
What did Argentina get right?
Argentina were not the disorganized and lackluster team we saw throughout the knockout stage. Scaloni’s side were highly organized against England and relatively clean on the ball. It’s attack came to life after Gordon’s 55th minute goal. The goal Argentina conceded, though, was error-filled. Nicolas Tagliafico’s wild attempt to clear Kane’s long ball fell to Declan Rice who then found a wide open Morgan Rogers. His service was poorly read by Nahuel Molina, which allowed Gordon to slip through and finish from close range.
But England made a surprising decision to sit back and allow Argentina to take hold of the match. When Enzo Fernandez’s long-distance strike sailed past Jordan Pickford for the equalizer, the shift in momentum was fully established. Messi, who had been relatively contained, understood that England had essentially given up on trying to play. Messi found the ball where he is most effective: near the opponent’s penalty area. He got his touches and his teammates buzzed around him.
Mac Allister hit the post which sent a warning to Tuchel’s side. Then, Messi received the ball in a wide channel. Took on his defender and sent a perfect cross with his righ foot that Lautaro Martinez headed home. The comeback was complete. The Argentina fans inside Atlanta Stadium rejoiced as if they knew the inevitable would happen. Argentina had done it again. The defending world champions, who have looked like a team on their last legs, will play for a second consecutive World Cup title on Sunday.
Felipe Cardenas
What did England get wrong?
England have endured devastating World Cup semi-final heartache in years gone by, but this one perhaps felt even worse than ever before.
Back in 1990 they lost to West Germany on penalties in crushing circumstances, but had chased the game for the most part and grabbed a late equaliser in a match they were underdogs for.
In 2018 they led for much of the game against Croatia before being pegged back from the 68th minute onwards in a tournament they were never expected to win.
Here? To be 1-0 up in the 85th minute and having looked like the more competent side, well, to lose was almost beyond words.
The game was England’s. They had overcome Argentina’s brutal physical approach, they were in the lead and they looked defensively sturdy. Argentina looked pretty ordinary.
For England to retreat into a deep 5-4-1 shape after the second half hydration break, inviting Argentina to attack, which they did so relentlessly, saw the tide of the match completely turn in Argentina’s favour.
Attention in the fallout will undoubtedly focus on Tuchel’s uber-defensive approach, rather than any individual mistakes England players made. There is always a scapegoat in these situations, be it someone who misses a penalty or someone who is sent off. On this occasion, it’s squarely on Tuchel.
Tim Spiers
How furious was this game?
We expected flashpoints, we expected argy-bargy and this game did not disappoint.
The tone was set before kick off. In fact, for some people the tone was clearly set in 1982 in the Falkland Islands, but in Atlanta at least, the barracking of both team’s anthems, particularly God Save the King which was completely silenced by a brutish cacophony of jeering and heckling.
Within seconds of kick-off, that animosity transferred to the pitch with Bellingham shunted through the back by Leandro Paredes. The Englishman grinned it off.
Then inside two minutes Enzo Fernandez left a forceful arm on the back of Elliot Anderson’s head. The new Manchester City midfielder got his revenge eight minutes later with a late foul. Payback
Fernandez strikes Anderson (Photo: Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
This continued for the entire ‘first quarter’ of the match, with no shots and 11 fouls before the first hydration break. Both teams incessantly fouled, kicked and barged each other, stopping the game from flowing and preventing the opposition from launching counter attacks.
Martinez pulls Bellingham’s shirt
At one point Messi attempted to dart from midfield and it took five challenges from England players to stop him, with Anderson eventually managing it and earning a booking. Bellingham in particular relished the brutality of the occasion.
Messi is sandwiched (Photo: Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
Tim Spiers
How well did the referee cope?
This was as tough a game to referee as they come, and Ismail Elfath did all he could to keep control of everyone on the pitch, including himself.
Referees’ principal aim in the opening stages of such high-pressure matches is to keep the temperature at a manageable level. By the first hydration break, the free-kick count was already in double figures, but Elfath had kept his yellow card in his pocket.
The received wisdom is that this is the best approach, because if you go too early and set the threshold too low, and problems can mount. Of course, it comes with the risk that the players get frustrated and start taking matters into their own hands.
Elfath waves his yellow card (Photo: Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)
A yellow card apiece for each side followed, with the first being waved around indiscriminately before eventually being shown to Elliot Anderson.
Poor technique aside, the general approach worked for Elfath, as evidenced by a second half in which he went about his work largely unnoticed.
He becomes the first referee to come through this fixture at a World Cup unscathed, with neither side being able to claim that a decision cost them the match.
Refereeing expert Graham Scott
How did England take the lead?
This semi-final was desperate for a goal, and after 55 minutes of attritional football, the breakthrough finally came.
Space was at a premium throughout, but a precious pocket opened up as Harry Kane drifted into his own half to offer an out-ball for Reece James. It wasn’t the first time that England’s No 9 dropped deep to drive the ball out to the flanks, and though this pass was ultimately intercepted by Lisandro Martinez, it helped to set England players free further up the pitch.
Declan Rice had galloped forward in anticipation of a knockdown, and was rewarded for that optimism as he played a neat first-time pass out to Morgan Rogers.
He had plenty of time to pick out a runner, and he delivered a teasing ball to the back-post, where Anthony Gordon did well to hook his right-foot around the bouncing ball. Argentina’s right-back Nicolas Tagliafico glanced over his shoulder, and was clearly aware of Gordon’s run, but was caught flat-footed as Rogers shaped up to cross.
That was his first ever World Cup goal, just as it was for Kieran Trippier when he opened the scoring in the semi-final four years ago.
Thom Harris
Was this the tackle of the tournament?
It was a challenge that a first did not seem possible.
Having gone behind moments earlier, Argentina won the ball in their own third and a quick exchange between Enzo Fernandez and Lionel Messi allowed the former to find Giuliano Simeone running in behind. The Atletico Madrid forward was in prime position to benefit, bearing down on goal as Pickford braced for the inevitable.
Then came Spence, a freight train bustling forward out of nowhere. His slide was timed to perfection and he took the ball off Simeone’s toes just as Argentinian eyebrows raised in anticipation to concede a corner.
Simeone is stopped by Spence (Photo: Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)
Spence celebrates his challenge (Photo: Patrick Smith – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Spence’s celebration — a roar towards the crowd — followed by chest and fist bumps from his teammates was indicative of the magnitude of the moment. Given the occasion and execution, that was the tackle of the tournament, one fans of England and Argentina will not forget in a hurry. By the end though, Argentina had found a way through twice.
Anantaajith Raghuraman