Argentina and England will face off within the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday in Atlanta, Ga.
It is the sixth time these two groups have met on the World Cup stage and the primary time they’ve performed so since 2002. These earlier conferences, nevertheless, carry plenty of weight for the Three Lions and the Albiceleste. They’ve offered among the greatest, wildest and most controversial ends in World Cup historical past — they usually splash severe coloration onto this upcoming semifinal.
Here is the story of the long-lived rivalry between Argentina and England, instructed by means of three of their earlier World Cup conferences.
Quarterfinals, World Cup 1966: England 1-0 Argentina
Few video games have performed extra to form the way forward for the World Cup than this one. Performed at London’s Wembley Stadium in entrance of a braying crowd, the 2 groups racked up a whopping 56 fouls between them throughout 90 minutes of stop-and-start play.
Argentina captain Antonio Rattin wound up getting despatched off for repeated infractions. In a dramatic twist, although, he claimed to not perceive the referee and refused to go away the sector. He was dismissed practically 10 minutes later through police escort, and FIFA, embarrassed by the spectacle, launched the idea of yellow and purple playing cards to keep away from repeating it sooner or later.
Neither aspect was thrilled with the way in which the match went. Argentina argued that Rattin by no means ought to’ve been dismissed in any respect and that England had dedicated extra fouls with zero punishment (and it was appropriate on that entrance). England argued that Argentina’s taking part in fashion was too soiled to be authentic, with coach Alf Ramsey going so far as to name Argentina “animals” within the press.
In the long run, although, England wound up profitable this match 1-0 due to a Geoff Hurst header. Hurst would go on to attain a hat trick within the World Cup closing weeks later handy England its first, and to this point solely, World Cup trophy.
Quarterfinals, World Cup 1986: Argentina 2-1 England
Twenty years on from the battle of 1966, the 2 sides met once more, this time in Mexico Metropolis underneath the shadow of conflict. The 2 nations had come to blows over the standing of the Malvinas Islands within the southern Atlantic Ocean just some years prior, and the power buzzing behind their World Cup conflict felt positively militant.
It was Argentina that emerged victorious right here, thanks to 2 wild objectives from Diego Maradona. The primary was one of the vital controversial objectives in World Cup historical past: early on within the second half, Maradona outjumped England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and knocked the ball into the web together with his hand. England cried foul, however the purpose stood. Maradona famously said it was scored “a little bit bit with the hand of God and a little bit bit with the pinnacle of Maradona.” Certainly.
Any complaints England had about unfair objectives vanished when Maradona scored his second. He took possession of the ball deep in his personal half and sprinted previous one, two, three and ultimately 4 England gamers earlier than rounding Shilton and lashing the ball into the web. It was a second of particular person brilliance, and it is gone down in historical past as one of many World Cup’s best objectives.
