Lionel Messi’s Argentina will play England in a highly anticipated World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, with Spain waiting after crushing French chances of a third victory.
Long-standing political tensions add to the already tantalizing match between two of the biggest animals in international sports.
Argentina, led by Lionel Scaloni, is aiming to become the first side since Brazil in 1962 to win two World Cups in a row. This would be an incredible farewell for the legendary Messi.
The 39-year-old, who is tied for first place in the Golden Boot rankings with eight goals, led his team to triumph in Qatar in 2022 in what was anticipated to be his farewell performance on the biggest platform in sport.
However, he has returned for more and has been instrumental in leading his country to the semi-finals by scoring in tough 3-2 wins over Egypt and Cape Verde.
Even if England has only sometimes shown promise, Argentina, the three-time champions, will be facing a different caliber of opponent in Atlanta than they have encountered thus far. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, who have scored 12 of England’s 13 goals, have been crucial to Thomas Tuchel’s team.
This will be the first competitive meeting between the teams since the 2002 World Cup. Despite the historic importance of the match—England is aiming for its first World Cup final since winning the competition in 1966—Tuchel stated he did not feel any additional pressure.
“I don’t feel a burden,” he said. “We feel the tension and will be nervous but that is normal. What I like is that I feel the players are really competitive, hungry and excited to play this match.”
Declan Rice, a midfielder who has been battling illness, was fit to start, the German added.
Drama abounds in the fixture’s past.
In their most memorable World Cup match, Argentina won 2-1 in the quarterfinals in Mexico in 1986 thanks to two goals from Diego Maradona, one of which was the notorious “Hand of God” goal and the other a brilliant solo effort.
In the run-up to the game, Argentina player Alexis Mac Allister has been thinking a lot about Maradona, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 60.
“Diego represents so much for the country and I hope we can do something similar to what they did in 1986,” said Mac Allister.
The 27-year-old Liverpool star, who played for the team that won the 2022 World Cup, said that Maradona’s abilities made him stand out.
“He was able to perform things he carried inside him and it is practically impossible to do those things…. Maybe only Leo (Messi) could do that.”
The teams’ games are played against the backdrop of an ongoing dispute over sovereignty over the South Atlantic Ocean’s Falkland Islands, also referred to as the Malvinas in Spanish.
After Argentine troops conquered the islands in 1982, Britain dispatched a military taskforce to retake them. In recent days, Scaloni has made an effort to make the match less painful.
“The reality is this is a football match. I am not going to mix everything up, especially regarding things that happened so long ago. It was a very sad time in our history and we can’t do much about it. This is a football game, that’s all,” he said.
