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A historic World Cup rivalry will be renewed on Wednesday, when England and Argentina go head-to-head in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinals at Atlanta Stadium. England and Argentina punched their tickets to the semifinals with wins on the final day of quarterfinals on Saturday. Now, the two powerhouses of international soccer will meet at the World Cup for the first time since 2002. Here is everything you need to know about the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinal between England and Argentina: If there was one word to describe England’s World Cup so far, it would not be “dominant.” In fact, England has only won two of its six matches by more than one goal, and it hasn’t won by more than a single goal since the knockout stage started. And yet, it is set to compete in its fourth-ever World Cup semifinal, in large part due to something past iterations of the team have lacked: mental toughness and desperation. It starts at the top with Thomas Tuchel, who, even after positive results, unapologetically demands more from his team. But it extends to the Three Lions’ leading men, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, who have regularly led their teams to wins with their combined seven goals in the knockout stage. Resilient? Lucky? Ordained? Call it what you want; Argentina is just happy to still be here. After a convincing group stage with three multi-goal wins, Argentina has had to fight in every second of the knockout stage to date, narrowly beating Cape Verde, Egypt and most recently Switzerland — all teams it was expected to beat comfortably. Lionel Messi has done his part, scoring a tournament-high eight goals (tied with Kylian Mbappé) and making World Cup history along the way, but his teammates have also done everything in their power to make sure Messi’s last-ever run at the tournament isn’t cut short. That unity has been a hallmark of their tournament to date, and they will need to stay united to beat a determined England side. Key Players If it weren’t for Jude Bellingham, England might not be in the semifinals. The 23-year-old midfielder has been outstanding for the Three Lions in the finals, scoring a brace against Mexico and Norway. He is the first player to score two or more goals in consecutive World Cup knockout stage matches at the same tournament since Diego Maradona in 1986. Bellingham was 15 years old the last time England made a World Cup semifinals. Now, he could be the reason it makes its first final since 1966, which is also the last — and only — time it lifted the trophy. We all know we’ve reached the end of Lionel Messi’s World Cup career. Whether it’s in the semifinal or the final, Messi will play his last-ever match at the tournament next week, closing the book on a historic World Cup career, which includes a title and the all-time records for most goals and assists. Will Messi get his storybook ending and lift the trophy for a second time, or will he bow out against an England team as desperate to reach the mountaintop as he was four years ago? We’ll find out on Wednesday. How To Watch England vs. Argentina​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

For a few days, this was the best Golden Boot race in living memory. Four legends, separated by two goals, all still alive. Then Saturday in Miami thinned the field in the most dramatic way possible. Erling Haaland is gone. Norway’s dream ended in extra time, England winning, 2-1, and the man who had scored in every single match his country played was finally, mercifully for defenders, held quiet. Seven goals, a historic run to the quarterfinals, and now a plane home. The most efficient scorer the sport has produced never got his shootout at the top. Cruel game. His conqueror complicated things too. Jude Bellingham scored twice against Norway — including the extra-time winner — to reach six goals and pull level with his own teammate, Harry Kane. So England now carries two men on six into a semifinal. Neither is out of it. Both would need a historic run over two games to catch the leaders. Not impossible. Not likely. Because the leaders are who we always suspected they’d be. Lionel Messi has eight after being held in check in the 2–1 quarterfinals win over Switzerland. Kylian Mbappé also has eight after adding to his account in the 2-0 quarterfinals win over Morocco. The same number they finished on in Qatar four years ago, when Mbappé’s hat trick in the final edged Messi by a single goal and left the Argentine without the one trophy his cabinet never held. The Golden Boot is the lone individual honor missing from the greatest résumé the game has ever seen. Four years later, here it is again, dangling in front of Messi, with the same Frenchman standing in the way. The parallels this week bordered on absurd. Both men missed a knockout penalty. Both responded by scoring anyway. Messi’s spot-kick was saved against Egypt in the round of 16 clash before he dragged Argentina back from 2-0 down with an 83rd-minute equalizer. Mbappé went the same direction from the spot against Morocco, watched Yassine Bounou save it, then curled in his eighth of the tournament twenty minutes later. Great players don’t dodge failure. They just refuse to let it be the headline. Here’s the wrinkle that decides everything: Mbappé is technically ahead. FIFA breaks tournament ties on assists, and Mbappé has three to Messi’s two. If both finish level on goals, the boot goes to France on a tiebreaker most fans have never heard of. Imagine explaining that to Just Fontaine, who scored 13 in six games in the 1958 World Cup for France with a single pair of boots and no penalties, and still holds the record no one will touch. The stakes are almost as high as the trophy itself. Messi, at 39, is the all-time World Cup scoring leader with 21 goals. Mbappé sits on 20, one behind, at 27 years old. Every goal either player scores now moves two leaderboards at once — the Golden Boot and the record book. There is no such thing as a meaningless finish for these two anymore. And the fixtures are lining up for a reunion nobody would dare script. France plays Spain in the semifinal Tuesday. If both win, Messi and Mbappé meet in the final in New York on July 19 — the ghost of Lusail in Qatar resurrected, four years and one continent later, with a Golden Boot and a World Cup on the same table. Haaland gave us the fireworks. Bellingham and Kane still lurk. But this was always going to come down to the two men who turned the 2022 final into a duel and never really stopped. Messi chasing the one award he’s yet to capture. Mbappé right there with him. Fontaine’s record is safe. Everything else is up for grabs. And we get to watch the same two titans settle it one more time.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

To the dismay of England’s biggest haters, it might be finally coming home. England took down Norway in extra time in the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, winning 2-1. But as the Three Lions didn’t need penalty kicks to advance, there were enough things that went down in Saturday’s match that could lead to England’s critics to say that it got lucky. That’s how former Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel certainly felt about England’s win. “England, they’ve gotten over the line. Were they great today? No, absolutely not. I think Norway were the better team,” Schmeichel said on FOX Sports’ “World Cup Now.” “But England have, as I keep saying, this star quality. They have the small margins that go their way. And you have to pull those margins onto your way when you’ve got incredibly good players.” Of course, former England star Peter Crouch found that statement to be a bit blasphemous. “No doubt England were the better side. No doubt,” Crouch said. “They defended and managed the game the way they needed to, created chances and towards the end, they brought in substitutions. … That’s how you win football matches, and England did that.” On the stat sheet, England had a clear edge. The Three Lions won the possession battle (52-48), expected goals (0.96-0.77), shots on target (8-4) and accurate pass percentage (91-85). However, England was on the right side of arguably the match’s two biggest calls. England’s first goal came after Norway goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland’s goal kick might have hit a cable wire. If it did, there should’ve been a VAR check, but there wasn’t one. In the second half, Norway’s goal that would’ve given it a 2-1 lead was disallowed after it was determined Erling Haaland committed a foul before a corner kick following a VAR check. Schmeichel was mystified that a foul was called on Haaland’s push of England midfielder Elliot Anderson on that play. “If I get pushed over like that, I’d be embarrassed,” Schmeichel said. “It’s funny that the English used to hate that, but now you’re applauding it. “I’m probably just a Danish who just likes tough football.” Crouch, again, disagreed. “He’s put two hands on him, he’s pushed him over. I don’t know what more you want, it’s a definite foul,” Crouch said. “He’s got two hands on him and he’s pushing him over. What do you want him to do there? Stand there? You have to go down to get the foul. If you don’t, then you don’t get.” Still, Schmeichel thought that England embellished contact for much of Saturday’s match. “They’ve had massive success in getting fouls, I’ll tell you that,” Schmeichel said. “It’s funny that 20 years ago, all the English used to hate it and say that the foreigners were diving. “I feel like Norway has been very unlucky. There’s been some key decisions that have gone against them.” As Schmeichel continued to iterate that England was lucky, midfielder Jude Bellingham showed off his star ability in the Three Lions’ win. He scored both goals in the victory, scoring on his weak foot on an impressive goal before his determination helped him score the game-winning goal in extra time. With the two goals, Bellingham now has six goals in the tournament. He now only trails Lionel Messi (8), Kylian Mbappé (8) and Erling Haaland (7) in the Golden Boot race. “Look at the players on that list … they don’t give you much defensively. Bellingham, he gets around the pitch,” Crouch said of Bellingham’s standing in the Golden Boot race. “He does his work. He makes clearances. He dribbles with the ball. He can set goals up and he’s got six goals. You believe he’s gonna score every single game now. I believe he believes as well.” Bellingham has also scored four goals in the last two matches. He opened up the scoring in England’s impressive victory over Mexico in the round of 16, as the Three Lions are now onto the semifinals at the World Cup. “I’m so proud of the lads. Thankfully, I was able to go to into the camp and they’re such good lads,” Crouch said. “There’s a real togetherness. They’ve dragged themselves through what was really tough conditions today. They were amazing in the Azteca. They’ve performed when they’ve needed to. Their players have produced when they’ve needed to. It’s a semifinal for the England team. It’s incredible.” And as for Schmeichel, former England women’s national team star Alex Scott has an idea of how to handle the haters like him. “We need to get Kasper some drinks later,” Scott quipped.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Jude Bellingham, the young boy who got his start at Birmingham City, is now on top of the football world with Real Madrid and the England national team. Bellingham is the all-around midfielder everyone wants on their roster. He has the ability to always be in the right place at the right time with late runs into the box to score goals; he has the ball-carrying ability of a No. 8; and he has the work rate and defensive capabilities to do the dirty work in midfield as well. A true jack of all trades in the middle of the pitch, Bellingham has become the type of player every manager appreciates because of how many different ways he can impact a game. Now in his second World Cup, Bellingham has already scored six goals, including a brace against Norway in the quarterfinals and a brace against Mexico in the round of 16. Both performances were pivotal in England’s progression to the semifinals. Every time England has needed him most, Bellingham has come up with a big moment. He has been one of the most clutch performers at this World Cup, and whenever England has needed a moment of magic, Bellingham has answered the call. Here is a look back at how Bellingham became England’s superstar midfielder. Birmingham Beginnings Bellingham’s rise started at Birmingham City, where he came through the academy before making his professional debut at just 16 years old in August 2019. In his breakout 2019-20 season, Bellingham made 44 appearances across all competitions and became Birmingham City’s youngest-ever player and youngest-ever goalscorer. It did not take long for him to rise up the ranks as one of the best young prospects in England. After just one first-team season at Birmingham, Bellingham earned a move to Borussia Dortmund. Birmingham later retired his No. 22 shirt, a rare gesture for such a young player, but one that showed how highly the club viewed what he had already done and what he was going on to become. Dazzling At Dortmund Bellingham had the chance to make a safer Premier League move, as many Championship players would have done. Instead, he chose the riskier path, but the one that could potentially pay off the most: going abroad to Germany. He made the move to Borussia Dortmund, a talent factory that has developed many young players into stars. For Bellingham, it turned out to be a brilliant decision. Rather than taking the move that may have looked more pleasing initially, he chose the club that could help shape him into the player he wanted to become. Dortmund paid a record fee for a 17-year-old to sign him in July 2020, and Bellingham spent three seasons in Germany. During that time, he won the DFB-Pokal, became one of the faces of the club and was named Bundesliga Player of the Season in 2022-23. He also came painfully close to winning the Bundesliga title in his final season, only for Dortmund to lose out on the final matchday in heartbreaking fashion. But even without that league title, his three years at Dortmund opened the door for him to make the move to a European giant. Moving To Madrid Bellingham joined Real Madrid in July 2023, and his debut season could not have gotten off to a much better start. He registered 23 goals and 13 assists across all competitions in his first season and helped Real Madrid win La Liga and the Champions League. That Champions League triumph came against his former club Borussia Dortmund, with Bellingham assisting Vinícius Júnior’s goal in the final. In that Champions League campaign, Bellingham had four goals and five assists, showing that his move to Madrid did not just put him on a bigger stage — it elevated him into one of the defining players in world football. Bellingham again showed guts and ambition by choosing Real Madrid when Premier League clubs were calling his name. As an English player, it would have been easy to return home and become the face of a major Premier League club. Instead, he chose the uncomfortable path again, moving to Spain to play for one of the biggest clubs in football. That has been the theme of Bellingham’s career. He is not the typical English player. He has shown multiple times that he is willing to take the unique path away from English football, develop abroad in different countries and sharpen his craft elsewhere. That started with Dortmund. Then came the ultimate move to Real Madrid, where he became just the sixth English player to play for the club after Laurie Cunningham, Steve McManaman, David Beckham, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate. Trent Alexander-Arnold has since joined him at Real Madrid, but Bellingham helped reopen that pathway for English players at the Bernabéu. Bellingham has shown he is willing to do the uncomfortable things to get to the very top, and now he is there. If he can help England win this World Cup, he can truly say he has completed football at just 23 years old. He has won trophies in multiple countries, won the Champions League, become a star for Real Madrid and now has England on the brink of a World Cup final. His legacy already looks strong. But if England goes all the way, it will reach a completely different level.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports