ATLANTA — Five minutes from erasing decades of anguish, England turned passive. The painful result: two more assists for Lionel Messi, one more World Cup final for Argentina.
“We were so close,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said following the 2-1 defeat Wednesday at Atlanta Stadium during a dour postgame session rolling on as Argentina celebrated with song, dance and degrees of disbelief alongside home fans seated behind the winner’s goal. “But couldn’t keep the level after we scored. We deserved to be up 1-0. … we got passive.”
Defense dominated in the first World Cup semifinal without a shot in goal in the first half since 1966 as sparring — and a little extra — led to 19 total fouls.
Then the defending, three-time world champs blitzed England with goals in the 85th and 92nd minutes, sparking a party in Atlanta Stadium and advancing to the World Cup final on Sunday for the seventh time in the country’s history.
“Enjoy it,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “Everybody should be thanking the players. This group is difficult to explain. Honestly. … I know that you recognize and acknowledge and are very well aware of how special this team is. This is all thanks to them. I want to thank them.”
Messi, 39, attempted only one shot in the match and spent most of the post-game, on-field party as a passive observer seated near the spot on the pitch where Enzo Fernandez changed England’s weekend plans a short time earlier.
Following Fernandez’s lead, Lautaro Martinez secured Argentina’s place in the World Cup final with the game-winning goal seven minutes later, in another dramatic comeback for a 2-1 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
Two possessions after he fired a rising missile deflected over the net by England keeper Jordan Pickford, Fernandez used a Messi assist for a replay of almost the same shot, but planted this one into the left corner of the net in the 85th minute. In the first two minutes of extra time, Martinez settled in front of Pickford at the left edge of the goal and headed a Messi pass by Pickford to cap a stirring rally.
“We conceded too many chances,” England’s 6-foot-7 supersub Dan Burn said. “When you get that close to the World Cup final after so many years, yeah, it hurts.”
Argentina will meet Spain on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., with a chance to claim a fourth title.
“It’s a dream to play in the World Cup final again,” Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes said. “If this next game goes well, we’re going to be the champion of the Americas and champions of the world.”
Messi has eight goals and four assists in this World Cup and a tournament-record 12 career assists after two on Wednesday.
For more than 80 minutes, all signs were pointing to England getting its first World Cup championship bid in decades.
With Argentina’s defense backpedaling, Anthony Gordon broke the deadlock in the 55th minute. It was one of only five shots on goal Wednesday for England.
He tallied the game’s first goal on a brilliant assist from Morgan Rogers, who was fed by Declan Rice. Rogers recovered the ball outside the box right of the goal and found Gordon streaking ahead of defenders to deflect the pass with the side of his right foot for the score.
But England’s euphoria ended in familiar fashion.
“I wish I had the answer,” Pickford said. “Obviously very, very proud of what we’ve done in this tournament. But there’s very fine lines in this tournament.”
Moments later, England defender Djed Spence caught up to Giuliano Simeone, who had space and pace behind coverage on what would have been a clean shot from close range. The maligned Spence delivered one of the tackles of the tournament, covering significant distance to dislodge the ball inside the box.
Before a hydration break as the 70th minute approached, Pickford made his own bid for England’s gold star defensive play of the game. He got his right hand on a ball sailing for the right corner of the goal to make a deflection and diving save to his right, keeping the score 1-0. Only inches spared the Three Lions and Pickford from the equalizer courtesy of Alexis Mac Allister in the 76th minute when he met a cross from Rodrigo DePaul near the penalty spot but the shot cannoned off the right post.
La Scaloneta tested Pickford immediately out of the halftime break. Julian Alvarez ripped two shots approaching from Pickford’s left to spike the energy and decibel level in the dome, but missed both. The second sank into the outside of the net.
“I think this team plays the best when we are facing challenging situations, when we’re facing adversity,” Scaloni said. “We had a challenging game. A challenging situation. There was blood in the water and we went for it. That’s what I saw in the players as well.”
Messi and Argentina also threatened late in the first half, first when Messi danced free of Harry Kane near midfield and drew a yellow card on midfielder Elliot Anderson. The possession nearly ended in a goal by Fernandez, who tallied the decisive quarterfinal goal to eliminate Egypt last week in the round of 16. His clean strike from outside the box whizzed over the top right corner of the bar in the 39th minute and the first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
Kane paid homage to Messi’s role in directing Argentina’s rally and playing as you’d expect from “the greatest player of all-time.”
The second-half wizardry was no surprise in the winner’s locker room.
“They don’t feel the weight on their shoulders. Messi today, the last 15, 20, 25 minutes, anytime he could, he just got the ball,” Scaloni said. “When you see that kind of grit, that kind of show. They’re playing like their 7- or 8-year-olds. They’re not thinking about if they miss. They’re not thinking about anything else. They’re thinking about football.”
Messi appeared to gain some extra motivation from a contentious war of words with England.
Referee Ismail Elfath helped separate England’s Jude Bellingham and Messi when the match opened with a no-call on a forearm from Fernandez to the back of Anderson’s head, one of multiple chest-thumping exchanges between the teams in the first half.
Bellingham also appeared to provoke Argentina at the end of the game as the team started celebrating near midfield, moving toward the group huddle and slapping Argentina defender Valentin Barco on the back of his head.
England missed three chances in the first half. The initial shot could’ve been confused for a pass. It came when right back Reece James one-touched a pass from Rogers and looked for his first score of the World Cup. His low, soft try from right of the penalty area was easily smothered at ankle height by Emiliano Martinez.
Before the late onslaught, Messi, playing in his sixth World Cup and 206th international match for Argentina, had a clean look outside the box in the 83rd minute but pushed it wide left.
Argentina finished with 15 attempts on goal to five for England, which squares off with France in the third-place match in Miami Gardens, Fla. on Saturday.
Spain can break a tie with Italy with a victory. La Roja carries a 37-match unbeaten streak — 30 wins, seven draws — into the championship match, vying to win the World Cup for the second time (2010).
–Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media
